A Change in the Winds
by Arus
Summary: A new enemy reveals itself. A secret that Allura's Mother had hidden away is discovered. Though will this new relevation come in time before a new enemy appears? 4th in series. Finished. See profile for fiction order.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com  
  
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 1 - Prologue  
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----- A Distant Planet in the Far Universe ------  
  
A little girl laughed as she and her friends ran aimlessly through a meadow, playing among the tall grass. Bubbles filled the air and kites littered the sky. It was indeed a beautiful day, out to enjoy what nature had offered to them. Laughter filled the air as the children played with each other.  
  
Though, the skies started to darken, causing several of the citizens of this far planet to stand, wondering what was going on. Turning, many were surprised to see thousands of ships, filling the sky above.  
  
It's them! a woman yelled. We have to get back to the city!  
  
Mothers quickly scooped up their children as the citizens who were playing in the field quickly ran toward the nearby city to seek shelter. As quickly as they did, the sky then filled with the noise of explosions, laser blasts and missiles as the planet's defense forces were launched to encounter the incoming ships.  
  
Frantic, the citizens of the city below scrambled to hide within their own homes; many rushing the public disaster centers in hopes that the ships above would soon leave.  
  
Their hopes were quickly crushed.  
  
The invading ships were much more powerful than the defenses of this poor planet.  
  
The city was raised in less time it took to be built.  
  
Whoever survived were quickly captured, and brought aboard ships to return back to where they had come from.  
  
This was the beginning of the invasion, by the Triasians.  
  
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----- Arus ------  
  
Lance could only smile in amusement as Nanny stood before Allura, giving her last minute instructions before the team was to leave to attend a diplomatic meeting on Planet Ebb.  
  
However, he was lucky to not have to go. Coran, was taking a much need rest, with family, so he volunteered to stay behind and keep watch. So Hunk, Pidge, Princess Allura and Keith were the delegation that would represent Arus, on Planet Ebb.  
  
"Remember, the Arielans will not take to seeing a woman in leadership," Nanny warned, "so know your place when speaking with their elders. Once they understand who you are, they will open up to you."  
  
"Yes, Nanny, I haven't forgotten my lessons," Allura stated. She then leaned forward and hugged her close. "I will contact you once we land. And will maintain a schedule with Lance to report in."  
  
The older woman nodded. "Now, you behave, young lady," Nanny gave as her last warning. "Just because you are with a bunch of boys, by no means do  
not act like them!"  
  
Lance stifled his laugh as Allura could only roll her eyes. "For the last time Nanny, we will be alright," she stated.  
  
"And that goes for you Captain!" Nanny snapped.  
  
Keith was approaching them but got caught off guard by the abrupt comments toward him. This only caused Lance to laugh harder, as Allura could feel herself flush.  
  
Lance could only turn to him as Keith wore a "What did I do now?" expression.  
  
"Nanny, Im sure Keith is gonna behave," Lance said as he stepped forward and took Nanny by her shoulders to turn her around. "Besides, Im not going, so you have one less worry."  
  
Lance looked over his shoulder to see Allura go through several changes in her expression before it came to rest on mere annoyance.  
  
"Why does she continue to treat me as if I am a child?" Allura muttered.  
  
"You will always remain, in her eyes, the little girl she used to take care of," Keith said as he collected her bags. "Is this all you're taking?"  
  
Allura turned to him, and a smile slowly replaced her scorn. "Im sorry," she said. "Yeah, that's it."  
  
"I thought Nanny packed for you," he stated.  
  
"And I repacked," she said. "Got 8 bags down to 2. Is that good enough?"  
  
"You pack better than some of the cadets at the academy," he stated. "So what did you leave out besides the kitchen sink?"  
  
She smiled. "Everything that I knew I wouldn't wear," she said. "And about 5 pairs of shoes."  
  
He smiled. "What was Nanny yelling at you about?" he asked.  
  
"Was she yelling?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, you know, how I should behave, what I should do, how you guys are a bad influence on me."  
  
"Yup, that was yelling," he said. He then looked up and smiled to see Queen Orla approaching. "Anyway, maybe your Aunt will have better wishes for you."  
  
Allura turned and smiled to see her aunt approach. Queen Orla smiled as she hugged her niece.  
  
"I want to thank you for coming to watch over things at the Castle, Aunt Orla," she stated.  
  
"My pleasure, dear," she stated. "Besides, it gave me an excuse to come and visit."  
  
Allura nodded. "Well, Lance will be here to help you out," Allura stated. "You know how to contact us if anything comes up."  
  
Orla nodded. "Give my best to Chancellor Ayers," Orla stated. "It has been a while since we've talked."  
  
"I'll be sure to pass on the message."  
  
Orla smiled as she watched Hunk collect the bags from Pidge and Keith and load them onto the shuttle they were taking. Orla then hooked her  
arm with Allura as she walked with her toward the shuttle.  
  
"I think it is good of you to get away, even it is a diplomatic meeting," Orla stated. She then smiled as she turned to Allura. "Gives  
you some time to collect your thoughts."  
  
"I don't even know why Galaxy Garrison wants us there," Allura shrugged. "But, it will be nice to be on Ebb."  
  
Orla nodded. "Be careful," Orla stated. "And, keep your head straight."  
  
"I will," Allura said with a smile.  
  
"Im not talking about the meeting," Orla said as she turned toward the shuttle again.  
  
Allura followed her gaze to see the three wrestle with one of the bags.  
  
"Aunt Orla, not you too," she said with a sigh.  
  
"Im not saying anything," Orla said. "But you do know that everyone sees it."  
  
Allura could only breathe in deeply. "Not everyone," Allura muttered.  
  
"What?"  
  
She turned to her Aunt. "We're just close friends, Aunty," she stated. "We've become closer now, but that's all it is."  
  
Orla could only nod. "Well, you do know that you have someone to turn to, if you need that shoulder to lean on," she stated.  
  
Allura smiled. "Thanks."  
  
"Princess!"  
  
Allura and Orla turned as Neive ran up to them. "Lance has stated that the airspace is clear, and that you should all be leaving in the next  
half-hour," he reported. He then smiled. "And to give you this."  
  
Neive handed her a small bundled item. Allura looked at it and slowly nodded. "I will let the boys know," she stated. She then smiled as she turned to her Aunt. 'Take care aunt, and don't let these guys walk over you."  
  
"Don't worry," Aunt Orla said with a smile. 'Lance and I have a few things planned for everyone, while you are all away."  
  
"And I will continue to finish that task you had me started on," Neive stated as he looked at Allura. "  
  
Allura's expression brightened. "I almost forgot about that!" she exclaimed. "So you are able to translate those diaries?"  
  
Neive nodded. "Yes, in fact, Im having some fun doing so," he stated. "Your mother wrote very beautifully, Allura. She was a gifted writer."  
  
"I'm glad," Allura stated. She then smiled. "Im sure the both of you have some catching up to do."  
  
Neive turned to Orla and shrugged. "Im sure she wants to know every single detail about what happened so far here."  
  
Allura smiled. "I will see you both when I return."  
  
"Safe trip, Allura," Orla stated.  
  
Allura nodded as she turned to walk toward the shuttlecraft. Neive then turned to Orla and offered his arm to her.  
  
"So," Orla stated as she took his offered arm. "I see that the Academy has brought some decorum to your nature," she said with a smile. "Before, you'd just stomp your feet and throw a tantrum if you had to do something so formal."  
  
Neive smiled as he escorted her back to the Castle of Lions. "Well, I was only 10," he stated. "I've asked Lance and Katherine for the rest of the afternoon off. Want to join me for lunch?"  
  
She smiled. "With pleasure."  
  
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"Your uncle wants you to return to Helena to finish your lessons," Orla stated as she sipped from her tea-cup.  
  
Neive let out a groan as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.  
  
They were having lunch on one of the balconies, away from the rest of castle. It was rare that he could share this moment with Queen Orla.  
  
"He wants me to continue my lessons so that he has a way to have a say in what Arus does," Neive stated. "He really never liked King Alfor did he?"  
  
Orla smiled as she placed her cup down on the table before her. "Well, he was a little mad that Marlena passed up Prince Enrian for King Alfor."  
  
Neive shook his head. "Well, I already told him that when I entered the Academy so that I could train to be put on the Voltron Force that I was no longer interested in challenging Allura for the rule over Arus," Neive stated. "King Alfor did what he could to protect this planet from invasion. What did he do?"  
  
"Neive, don't be angry with him," Orla stated. "He fought along side King Alfor as a Lion Knight; so did your father."  
  
Neive turned to her, but did not say a word. "Im glad that you sent me to live in the village," he said. "I learned so much living there."  
  
"I knew that the political business of our lives would have conflicted with your own beliefs," Orla stated. "Even at that age, you knew what  
you wanted to do."  
  
Neive slowly nodded. "And I made a promise to dad that I would do everything in my power to make him proud."  
  
"And you have," she stated. "Even though he no longer with us, I know that he is."  
  
Neive nodded. "I miss him," he stated.  
  
"As do I," she stated.  
  
With a sigh, he then looked up at her. "Well, you can let uncle know that my stance has not changed," he said. "Arus will be ruled by Allura   
and whomever she decides to marry. I will renounce all that we have to her, when Im of age to do so."  
  
"Your uncle will disagree with that, but I know you understand what is right for Arus," she stated. "Do even the others know?"  
  
Neive shook his head. "Not even the Alpha Team," he stated. "Well, not the entire team."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Captain Hayashi knows," he stated. "But he's kept my secret all this time."  
  
Orla smiled. "I'd figured he would find out."  
  
Neive nodded then let out a sigh. "It was a mistake on my part," he stated as he leaned forward. "I was translating some documents for a meeting we were going to have with the village of Nomel."  
  
"That is in Helena," Orla stated.  
  
He nodded. "I used the wrong term when I was translating a document, one that would be used by a royal official than just someone who grew up here."  
  
Orla smiled. "And Keith caught the slip?"  
  
He nodded. "I didn't realize how much Arusian he knew until he pulled me aside to ask about the wrong translation," he said. "That's when he knew that I was..."  
  
"My son?" Orla asked.  
  
He nodded. He then groaned as he stood up and walked around the table.  
  
"Well, it seems that secret has now been revealed to everyone else," he stated.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Neive picked up a small little device and as he showed it to Orla, she smiled.  
  
"One of Shane's little spying devices."  
  
Orla laughed. "Well, I think it would be right to finally tell them," she stated. "Don't worry, I'll be with you when you do."  
  
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----- Vallis ------  
  
Anala stood in her castle's library as she and Xue looked through the old books for ones that needed to be tended to. Over the past few months, they were pulling many that were in need of care, making sure that they would be repaired if damaged by age.  
  
"Amazing that Kelar actually took care of many of these," Anala stated.  
  
-"-He was one not to discard what he thought important-"- Xue answered.  
  
Anala nodded as she carried a stack over to a small table. She then let out a groan as a sudden pain shot through her, then breathing in deeply as she placed her hand to her expanding stomach.  
  
-"-Anala, are you alright?-"- Xue asked as he climbed down the ladder he was on and walked over to her.  
  
She nodded. "Just a little cramp," she stated.  
  
Xue then reacted when she let out a groan again, almost doubling over.  
  
-"-Anala, it must be time, -"- he stated.  
  
"This soon?" she asked. "I thought it was supposed to be 9 months?"  
  
-"-Remember, you're half Vallusian,-"- he said as he picked her up into his arms. -"-Full term is only 7 -"-  
  
Anala nodded. "Call Graig," she stated as she held onto him. "I need him to be there with me."  
  
-"-I will-"- he stated as he carried her out of the library. -"But lets get you to the infirmary first.-"-  
  
Anala could only nod as he carried her through the halls of the castle to take her down to the infirmary. Her pregnancy caused a shock throughout her kingdom, but was played down when the people realized they were going to have an heir to the throne. What bothered Anala was the facade she had put in place to protect the real father of her child, knowing that if Galaxy Garrison had found out, there would be much controversy. Something she did not want to go through. And in the best interest of her child, she had turned to a childhood friend, for help.  
  
Now, her only thoughts were left to wonder what surprises were now in store for her, and her child.  
  



	2. Chapter 2

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 2  
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----- Planet Doom ------

Princess Zeya stood in the doorway as she watched Lotor speak with one of the Doom soldiers. He was handed a piece of paper and he then dimissed the young soldier.

"What is it?" she asked as she entered the room.

"There is a report that Planet Minas has been attacked," he stated. "The Drule Empire are deploying whatever free forces they have to see what has happened."

Zeya nodded slowly. "Do you think that what Anala stated has come true?" she asked.

"Its too early to say," he stated. "But her guess on this was nearly on target."

"What is father planning to do?" she asked.

"He is sending what forces we have, but only a small garrison," he stated. "He wants to keep as much out of it as possible."

Zeya nodded. "Well, I hope that won't dampen the mood on the news Im about to relate."

"What is it?"

"News from Vallis," she stated. "Anala gave birth earlier today. Baby boy."

"Is she alright?"

Zeya nodded. "I've already arranged with the contact that you will be arriving shortly." She stated. "He instructed that you arrive in on Vallis' dark side, and fly low until you reach the destination."

Lotor nodded. "Thank you," he stated. "I'll return later today."

She watched as he walked pass her. "I'll be sure to cover for you if father asks."

She then smiled to herself as he disappeared through the door she came through.

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----- Planet Arus ------

"Cousin?"

Neive smiled as Shane wore a surprised expression. They were all gathered in the small Rec Room as Orla sat quietly in a corner with Lance as the four members of the Beta Team confronted Neive on his newly discovered secret.

"You mean to say, that you are Allura's cousin?" Teri asked. "How come you never told us?"

Neive only shook his head. "Would it really have mattered?" he asked.

Katherine could only laugh. "Well, we all know which royal is the coolest of the two," she quipped.

"Hey!" Neive stated.

"So, Queen Orla, you are Queen Marlena's sister?"

Orla nodded. "I married a young lord from Helena, while Allura's mother, who was at first betrothed to Prince Enrian of Mythrias, married King Alfor of Altaire instead. Alfor and my sister had Allura. My husband and I had Neive."

"But all this time, we were lead to believe that you never married or had any children," LiAnne stated. "Why?"

Orla smiled. "It was to protect the sanctity of the Arusian royalty." She stated. "And to protect Neive."

"Who was Prince Enrian?" Katherine asked. "Mythrias?"

Lance stood from his chair and turned on the video monitor.

"Mythrias was Arus' third kingdom, before it was totally destroyed, in the first attack by King Zarkon," Lance stated as he brought up a picture from the archives. "All the royalty from that family were..."

"They did not survice the attack," Orla stated. "Out of the three kingdoms, Mythrias was the least protected. Alfor sent in the Lion Knights to do what he could, but it wasn't enough to save Mythrias.

"Enrian was killed in the attack, along with his father and mother, King Neason and Queen Sharone," Orla stated. "Their daughter went missing."

"So, if she's missing, she could be alive right?" Shane asked.

Orla slowly shook her head. "Princess Karone was found ten years later, aboard a Doom slave ship that crashed here on Arus, dying from lazon poisoning. We couldn't save her."

"How sad," Shane stated. "Did she ever state what happened to her?"

Orla shook her head. "The poisoning was too advanced, she was barely coherent when they found her. The kingdom of Mythrias died with her."

"And you want to give up your birthright?" Katherine asked as she turned to Neive.

"Not really give it up," Neive stated. "Just play a very small---tiny-miniscule part in how Arus should be ruled."

"So basically, you don't want any involvement in over what Allura decides to do?"

Neive shrugged. "We are both not of age to make any real decisions," he stated. "Arus' coronation age is 23, Arusian years."

"And you're 18 right?"

Neive nodded. "Allura is 21."

"That's why we have the council to help oversee the decisions that have been made," Lance stated.

Katherine slowly nodded. "Just to think, we have real life prince on our team," she said with a smile. "Well, now that we got that out of the way, we still have a schedule to keep."

The team let out a groan which brought a smile to Lance. Then, the communicator he was wearing beeped. He quickly pulled it from his belt and answered it.

"Lance here."

Sir, we are receiving a message from Vallis, requesting to speak with Commander Hayashi

"Did you let them know that he is on Planet Ebb attending a conference?"

Yes, sir, so they asked to speak with you.

"I'll be down in 2 minutes," lance stated. He then turned to everyone in the room. "Well, if you guys don't need me, I have a message to answer. So, follow your schedule; I'll expect a report from each of you prior to dinner tonite."

Katherine nodded and the team watched as he left the small room. "So, let's get to our duties. The earlier we finish the more free time we have for ourselves."

Everyone nodded as they stood. Katherine thanked Queen Orla and escorted everyone out of the room but nodded to Neive as he walked over to his mother. She smiled to herself before the door slid close behind her.

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----- Planet Vallis ------

Anala smiled as she was lying in her bed, as Graig moved about her room tidying things up for her.

"You know, you really do not have to do that," she said with a laugh.

The young man smiled in her direction before placing the pile of blankets he was carrying on a nearby chair.

"You know, for someone who manages to rule an entire planet, you surely can't keep your room straight," he stated. He then came over to her bed and sat on the edge of it. "So, 14 hours huh?"

Anala groaned as she grabbed her pillow. "Was it really that long?" she asked.

Graig smiled. "Don't worry, my sister was in labor for nearly 36 hours," he stated. "My little niece just gave her so much trouble. No wonder the little cherub is a handful."

Anala smiled. Graig was her childhood friend, who grew up as the son of one of the servants that served under Kellar's rule. They did everything together while she grew up in the palace, and he was the closest friend she had. She trusted him more than anyone else on Vallis, and knew that he would agree to help her in her situation. That he would agree to play the part she needed to protect her own secret.

He then stood and walked over the cradle in the corner to check on the sleeping child.

"So what did you name him?" he asked.

"Reece," she stated.

Anala slowly swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stood. She grabbed her robe and slipped it on as she walked over to the cradle.

"He's beautiful," Graig stated.

Anala nodded as she joined him. "Graig, I want to thank you," she stated.

He turned to her, placing his arm around her. "You know that I will do anything for you," he stated. "I promised that I would help you, and I intend to keep that promise."

"You've been doing a great job so far," she stated. "At least until it's the right time to reveal the truth."

Graig nodded. "In time," he stated. He then kissed the side of cheek. "Until then, I don't mind serving as his surrogate father."

Anala nodded. "In time, I hope that things will be a little different."

Graig nodded. He then looked up. "I agree," he said. "Which is why I'll leave the three of you alone."

"Three of us?" Anala asked.

Graig looked past her and she followed his gaze. Anala breathed in deeply as she stared at the dark figure who stood in the frame of her open window.

"Thank you Graig," she stated.

Graig nodded as he turned, and gathered his coat. He then moved near her.

"Just be yourself," he stated. "And next time, warn me about having any cute guests."

Anala lightly hit him before he left her room, locking the door behind him. She then turned to the figure who now entered her room.

"Lotor," Anala stated.

Lotor removed the helmet he wore as he approached her. "I came as soon as I received word," he stated.

Anala nodded as she stepped aside.

"He's doing well," she stated. "We have been waiting for you."

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----- Planet Arus ------

Neive breathed in deeply as he stepped out of the shower, toweling his hair dry.  
He then wrapped the towel around himself as he walked over to his desk, looking over the small diary that was open before him.

He quickly flipped through the pages, going over his notes that he was making, in his translations, making sure that he was making them as accurate as possible.

Grabbing a pair of his pj slacks, he slipped them on before picking up the small diary from his desk. As he turned the pages, a small piece of paper fell out from between the last few pages.

He bent down and picked it up off the floor before placing the diary back on his desk. As he picked up the small paper, he unfolded it seeing that it was a quickly drawn sketch. Flipping it over, he realized that it was a rough map, drawn quickly indicating passageways below the Castle of Lions. He remembered seeing some of the small tunnels built below the Castle when he was a child.

Grabbing his top, he took the small piece of paper and left his bedroom. He walked down the hall and stopped before a door and pressed a button on the side of it.

Katherine appeared at the door as it slid open. Neive smiled as he saw that she was dressed in just a small tank top and sweat pants.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, I found something in one of the Queen's diaries, and I want to go and check it out."

Katherine looked at him. "Can't this wait till morning?" she asked. "I was just about to snuggle under the covers and fall asleep."

He leaned against the frame of her door and smiled. "Well, dressed like that, I can understand the snuggle part."

Katherine let out a groan. "Should I let your mother know about the bad things that you have done?" she asked.

"Should I tell Keith about the bad things you've done?"

"What did you find?"

He laughed to himself. "A map," he stated as he showed her the slip of paper. "I recognize it as the tunnels that go beneath the Castle. I remember playing in them with Allura when we were young."

Katherine stepped toward him and looked down at the paper.

"What does it lead to?" she asked.

"Don't know," he stated. "Want to find out?"

She looked up at him. "I'll grab the flashlight," she stated. "I remember Lance stating that the old tunnels might not have electricity since they were trying to renovate them."

Neive watched as she walked back into her room and grab a small jacket. She pulled her hair through a small band and then met him in the hallway.

"So, where do we start?"

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Neive shined the light on one of the old walls as they entered the hallway that would take them down to the old tunnels.

"Wow, when were these built?"

"Before I was born," Neive stated as he moved passed her. "Alfor wanted to be sure that his family would be evacuated safely along with the castle servants and honor guards."

"Were they ever used?"

Neive nodded slowly. "Only one time that I can remember," he said. "That was the day Zarkon attacked and Haggar destroyed Voltron."

"Where she split the lions apart?"

Neive nodded as he turned to her. "We lost a lot of soldiers that day," he said. "Including Allura's mother."

Katherine slowly nodded. "This war has taken its share of casualties."

Katherine then walked passed him as they headed down the tunnel.

"Uh, Kit, slow-"

Neive's warning came a bit late as he watched her trip then fall to the ground before him. He smiled to himself as he walked up to her and knelt down.

"I forgot about that little dip in the walkway," he said as he placed the flashlight down next to him.

"Is there anything else you want to warn me before we go further down this tunnel?"

He slowly shook his head as he helped her to her feet. "That's why I have the flashlight," he stated as he bent down to pick it up.

Katherine shook her head as she dusted the dirt from her pants. "How in the world did I ever put up with you when you were at the academy?" she asked.

Neive smiled as he shown the light down the tunnel. "Don't know," he said. "You were the one who wanted to date me back then."

"Excuse me?" she asked. "As -I- remember it, you were the one who was trying to take bets on how long it would take you to get into my pants."

"That wasn't me," he stated. "However, I did lose that bet."

Katherine crossed her arms as she stared at him. "So who put up that bet?" she asked.

"Oh, no, Im not going there," he said as they continued their trek.

"How much did you lose?

"Enough," he stated. "Enough to realize that your friendship was worth more than any bet I could make." He then turned to her. "How come we never became more serious than we did?"

Kit shrugged her shoulders then met his gaze. "As I remember it, you had to return to Arus for some reason," she stated. "You finished your last year here."

Neive slowly nodded. "Funny how things come together in the end, huh?"

Kit slowly nodded. "Yeah," she stated. She then smiled. "If it means anything to you, I did miss you that last year."

"Oh, I'm touched," he said. "But now we're here, so that makes up for that."

"So how much farther we have to travel?"

"Just a few yards," Neive stated. "We should hit the foyer that leads to the chambers. The map is showing something that is just after the main chambers."

"What can be hidden down here?"

"Don't know," he said. "But it was hidden in Queen Marlena's diary, so it must have been something important to her."

Kit nodded as she followed closely behind Neive as they made their way down the tunnel. They came up to an intersecting hallway and turned left, following it to the end before taking a right down another hallway.

"We should be coming up on it," Neive stated.

As they walked down the hall, they saw that they were coming up to a solid granite wall. Kit let out her breath seeing that it was a dead end.

"Are you sure we took the right turn?" she asked.

Neive nodded. "This is the where the map is directing us to," he stated.

He walked up to the wall and looked it over. He placed his hands on one of the stone bricks, feeling along the wall for some kind of sign.

"What are you looking for?"

"Alfor was good at hiding secret rooms," he stated. "If he can hide a whole castle, Im sure he can hide a small room."

Kit followed him as they felt along the wall, hoping that the stone wall before them would lead to some sort of secret.

"Man, this is so not working," she stated. "I mean, its not like something out of 1001 Arabian Nights."

"What?" Neive asked.

"Old Earth story," she stated. "Character in it, who wanted to find a secret cave, would say a magic phrase and the wall that hid the cave would disappear."

"What magic phrase?"

"Open Sesame."

Suddenly the wall before them shook as Neive took a step back and shone the light on it. Slowly the stone bricks peeled away revealing the small room it hid behind it.

"Didn't King Alfor have a fondness for old Earth fables?" Kit asked.

"I guess he did," Neive stated. "Let's see what was hiding here."

Kit and Neive slowly entered the hidden room. It was empty, save for a small stone pillar that stood in the center.

"What's there?" Kit asked.

They approached the small pillar and noticed a small box that was atop it.

"What do you think it is?" Kit asked.

"Don't know," Neive stated.

Neive stood before it, and as he reached for it, the box reacted, suddenly opening before them. Inside, there was a silver metal band that was lying upon a maroon colored cushion.

"What is that?" Katherine asked.

"I don't know," he said. He brought the flashlight over the box and shined it over the unknown item.

"What is etched on it?" she asked.

Neive leaned in closer to see that there was a faint design etched in the metal.

"Odd," he said. "That's the royal symbol for Helena."

"Helena?" Katherine asked. "Um, do you think we should go and get Lance?"

"What if something happens to it?" he asked.

"I don't think we should touch it," she said.

Neive looked at her. "What can it do?"

"What can it not do?" she asked.

Neive slowly nodded as he reached toward the box to try and close it.

"Careful."

But when he tried to touch the lid of the small box, the silver band then disappeared from the cushion, and then reappeared on his right arm. Neive then let out a deafening scream as he fell to the ground, grabbing a hold of his arm as a sudden pain shot through him.

"Neive!" Katherine yelled as she rounded the small pillar and kneeled by him.

"Get it off!" he yelled.

As Katherine touched him, she jumped back as a sudden shock was sent through her. Neive then let out another scream, before falling unconscious. Katherine then crawled over to him, taking him into her arms as she looked down at the band that now covered his right wrist. When her hands went to touch it, the band reacted, sending another shock toward her.

She then pulled the communicator her jacket pocket and radioed the main control room.

--Kit?-Lance's voice came over the com. -Where the heck are you?-

"Can you follow my signal?" she asked. "Neive's been hurt."

--What?-

"Please, hurry," she stated. "We're in the old tunnels."

--I have your position,-- Lance stated. -Shane and Terri are on your way.-

"Thanks, Lance," she stated.

Katherine then pulled Neive into her arms as she cradled him. She wondered what that band was for, and why it would react the way it did.


	3. Chapter 3

########################################################################  
A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
########################################################################

----------------  
Chapter 3  
----------------

----- Planet Ebb ------

Allura breathed in deeply as she walked out onto the balcony of the small palace they were staying in. The meetings had taken place most of the day, and she was happy to have finally some time to breathe. As much as she knew the meetings would benefit the Galaxy Alliance, she found herself to be half bored through many of them. And it didn't help that two ambassadors decided to start an ongoing argument on how to distribute medical supplies and herbs from one planet to another.

She walked up to the edge of the balcony, and looked over. The palace was built into the side of a cliff that overlooked a canyon with a rather large river that flowed below it. The sound of the rushing water below helped her to keep her mind off the meetings from that day, and just enjoy the beauty that Ebb had to offer.

She breathed in deeply again as she closed her eyes. Just one more day. She thought to herself. Then she would be back on Arus, dealing with her own problems.

She opened her eyes again as she looked up toward the night sky. The stars were shining bright above in a cloudless sky. She took a step back as she tried to pick out any familiar formations among them.

She then gasped when something fell from above her and landed just before her. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was Keith, but before she could say anything, he grabbed her by her arm and pulled her across the balcony to the side of the open door, pulling her into his embrace as he folded his wings around them both, leaning close up against the sidewall.

"Keith-" Allura started to say, but he quickly silenced her as he placed a finger to her lips.

Allura then followed his gaze to the open doorway, peering through the opening between the feathers as Ambassador Remlis of Planet Orois walked out onto the balcony. Allura then held in her breath as he pulled her closer against him, as they watch the Ambassador look around.

"Commander Hayashi?" she called out.

The Ambassador then let out a grunt as she turned to head back into the palace. Allura let out her breath after a moment, and the arms that held her close suddenly released her. The feathered wings that surrounded her unfolded from around her and she was able to step away.

"What was that all about?" she asked as she stared at him.

"Is she gone?" he whispered.

Allura looked toward the doorway and peered into the hallway that ran along the side of the palace. She nodded.

"I think she's still close by," she stated as he stepped out from behind the open door and looked into the palace.

"She's been following me around since dinner," he stated as he looked into the hallway then walked away from the door. "I've been trying to lose her."

Allura smiled as she crossed her arms. "So, why the sudden interest?"

"She wants to know why as a terran, I would posses the attributes of a Valusian," he stated. "And has questioned me about every aspect of my family to try and figure it out."

Allura smiled. "So why not just tell her?"

"I did," he stated as he turned to her, then caused his wings to disappear. "But she wont take my answers as official unless I produce a genealogy chart or something."

Allura could only look at him as he did that. It still amazed her to see how casual he acted with his unique gift.

"And don't get me started on the questions she had about you," he added.

"Me?" she asked. "What questions about me?"

"Like why you aren't married yet," he stated. "Bringing up that fact that your mother and father were married long before their coronations."

Allura let out a grunt as she crossed her arms again. "And what business is it of hers?" she asked. "Remind me again, why she is here?"

"Orois contributes 70 of the medical herbs to cure Nisera Syndrome," Keith stated as he walked passed her toward the edge of the balcony. "And unfortunately, Remlis is the one that holds a tight hold over its distribution."

Allura could only shake her head. "And the herbs can only grow in the nitrogen abundant oceans there."

Keith nodded. "Which is why we are here, to try and release her hold over the distribution so that other planets can have access to it," he said. "Im just hoping she isn't trying to hold back on us and demand answers from us, before agreeing to any provisions the other ambassadors are drawing up."

Keith went toward the stone railing at the edge of the balcony and looked over. Allura joined him there as she leaned against it.

"So, what was that call from Vallis concerning?" Allura asked.

"You guys were so busy, I didn't want to bother you," he stated. "But, Anala gave birth to a boy this morning."

Allura's expression brightened. "Oh my!" she stated. "Did everything go well?"

He nodded. "Healthy and active," he stated. "Which reminds me that I must ask for a couple of days of leave in about two weeks."

Allura nodded. "Going to Vallis?"

He nodded. "I have to be there for his, well, what they consider a baptismal."

"A similar reception?" Allura asked recognizing the word.

He nodded as he turned to her. "Something of the sort. I don't really know what it is, but Anala thought it best that I be there."

"Of course!" Allura exclaimed. "I wouldn't want you to miss that. Just put in your request to Coran when we return."

He nodded. "I just wonder how she's gonna handle the pressure."

Allura's smile disappeared for a moment, but then she looked at him. "Anala chose to have this child on her own," Allura stated. "And she has the support of your mother and Xue behind her."

Keith slowly nodded as he turned to look out over the balcony, and then stared up at the stars above.

"Something is bothering you," Allura stated as she came to stand near him. "What is it?"

He turned to her, taking her hand into his own. "Listen, I know that its been a little, weird considering what has happened over the last year and a half," he started. "I just want to let you know that I appreciate all that you have done, and had the faith in believing in me."

Allura could only nod as she met his gaze. "Keith, you know that all we did was to support you," she stated. "It was an honor to help you and your family, especially for all that you and they've been through."

She then released his hand and took him into a hug. "If anything, Keith, it is I who owe you much more than in thanks for all that you have done," she stated. "For me, for all of Arus. You and the others have brought hope to my people. Arus is beginning to prosper and it's all because five adventurous pilots, ventured to an unknown planet, hoping they could bring back something that was legend itself-

"I grew up not having the friends, the closeness of my parents," she said as she released her hug on him but held him close. "And I know in that all of you, my people will never have to experience the atrocities that war can bring."

He nodded. "I know," he said. "Arus has become a home to all of us. We will always be there for you and your people. I'll always be there."

"That is a bold promise," she said. "Hunk, Lance, Pidge - they are still bound to Galaxy Garison and the Alliance. You, you're pretty much free to go where you want; where you're wanted."

"I know where I belong," he stated. "I know where I want to be."

"And where is that?"

"Among my friends, my family," he said as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Those I care about."

She breathed in deeply as she met his gaze once more, suddenly aware of her heart beating hard in her own chest. "I'm sure those you care about, return the same."

"Oh?" he asked as he leaned his head toward hers. "And how would you know?"

She suddenly found it hard to breathe. "Because I know," she whispered.

She could feel her heart racing, holding her breath as she felt his breath, upon her lips. An odd feeling started to form in her stomach, and she wondered just how much longer her legs could keep her standing.

"Commander Hayashi!" a sudden voice broke the silence and Allura let out the breath she was holding, almost in relief, but more in disappointment. "There you are."

She quickly released her hold on him as she stepped away and met the gaze of Amabassardor Remlis.

"Good evening, Ambassador," Allura stated as she took a couple of steps away from Keith.

The Ambassador's expression went through several changes as her gaze darted from the princess, then to the young commander.

"Am I interrupting anything?" she managed to ask as she came to stand before them.

Allura smiled to herself. "No, Ambassador," Allura stated. "Actually, the commander and I were trying to identify the different stars in the sky."

The Amabassador looked at her with a questioning look then looked at the commander before returning to Allura again.

"I see," she stated. "Actually, its good that the both of you are here, I have some questions to ask the both of you."

"Uh, yes Ambassador," Allura stated. "Its been a long day, since Arus is a long trip from here. The commander and I need to turn in to be ready for tomorrow's meetings."

"But I will only take a moment of your time, princess," Remlis stated.

"I must decline at this time, ambassador," Allura stated. "But if we have some free time between the meetings tomorrow, I'll be...that is, Im sure the commander and I will be more than happy to answer your questions."

The Ambassador looked a little miffed that this upstart young woman would decline to meet with her. "So be it," she stated. "Commander, we must finish what we started earlier today."

"If it pleases you, Ambassador, may I ask that you contact my mother on Vallis, if you wish to know more about my family," Keith requested. "As it is, Im still learning myself. And if she doesn't give you more than I have offered, please do not continue to pry into my personal life."

Remlis breathed in deeply. "I see," she said again. "Well then, I will see the both of you at the meetings tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Ambassador," Allura stated.

"Goodnight "

Keith and Allura watched as the deglected Ambassador huff then turn around and went back into the palace. Allura let out a sigh of relief and smiled to herself. "If she gives me anymore of that type of attitude, I swear.."

"Ally-" Keith started to say.

Allura met his gaze. "Good going on throwing her off your back," she said.

"Only to have her jump on yours," he said. "Sorry."

"That's all right, I have something in mind, so that I will probably will not have time to 'answer her questions'," she stated. "I'll speak with Ambassador Lores about finding something to keep her busy."

Keith smiled. "Now, that's the Allura I will definitely not want to cross."

Allura smiled, but then she stepped toward him. "Now, what were we talking about, when we were rudely interrupted?"

"Something we should talk about after we get back to Arus," he stated as he turned to her.

"You know, we have all night," she stated as she took his hand into her own again. "I know we have a lot to talk about."

"You realize that we have an early meeting in the morning," he stated.

"Hunk and Pidge will be there," she said. "They can cover for us and let us know what we missed."

"God, this feels like Im back in the academy."

Allura smiled. "Good, you can tell me all about that as well," she said. "I need more---"

Keith then looked at her when she suddenly fell silent. "Ally?"

Allura's expression blanked as she met his gaze. Then she breathed in deeply before letting out a near deafening scream, as she released Keith's hand and fell to her knees, holding out her right arm.

"Ally? What is it?"

Tears came to her eyes as she pulled on the sleeve of her uniform as she felt a burning sensation around her right wrist. A red mark started to from around her wrist and the pain just intensified. She breathed in deeply as another sharp pain coursed through her.

"Ally, what's happening?"

When Keith tried to touch her, a sudden shock was sent through him. Then, Allura let out another scream before falling back. Keith caught her in time, seeing that she had fallen unconscious. As he looked down at her, he noticed a metal band was now encircled around her right wrist. When he tried to touch it, another shock was sent through him. He looked at it closely to see what it was, and noticed the raised etching decorated on the band. He clearly recognized it as the royal symbol of Altaire. He quickly felt for her pulse before lifting her into his arms, then walking back into the palace to get her to the medical wards.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Doom ------

Zeya turned to her bedroom door and smiled as Lotor stood there.

"So how is she?"

"Doing fine."

"Will she bring the child to Doom?"

"I already discussed that with her," he said. "She said, in due time."

She turned to him. "Father must see the child," she stated. "You must make her bring him to us."

"I will have her bring him to Doom when she feels its time," Lotor stated, sounding irritated. He walked over to one of the many seats in her room and sat down. "I don't need you to remind me of my duties."

Zeya breathed in deeply as she walked toward him. "If I do not see the child before he starts to show his true heritage, I cannot prevent the rest of her people; her family from knowing the truth."

"I understand," he stated.

"She is willing to sacrifice the truth, to keep him away from Doom?"

"She will do anything to protect him," he stated. "Even if it means keeping him away from me."

Zeya crossed her arms. "Lotor, I know this hard on you; the both of you," she stated. "If anything, please have me see her so that I can do what I need to do to protect the three of you."

"She will not have more than one of us on Vallis at one time," he stated. "You will have to go alone."

"I understand," she said. "Please arrange a time that I can."

"What has been going on in my absence?"

Zeya let out a sign. "The Triasians are making their move, in the direction of this system," she stated. "We've already detected scout ships on the outskirts of the nearby quadrants. Three were intercepted by some of our own scouts."

"Where?"

"Several places," she stated. "We lost one however, in the vicinity of Planet Ebb."

"Oh?" Lotor asked. "Isn't there a meeting happening there at this moment?"

Zeya nodded. "I think they are trying to infiltrate their way into the system as quietly as possible."

"Do we have any clue as to what they look like?"

"Beyond being humanoid?" Zeya asked. "No. We have no intel on what they look like, but their ship designs are very distinguishable."

Lotor nodded. "We must discuss this with father," he stated. "Im sure the Drule council will want to have this information as well."

"I really think we should study them as much as we can," Zeya stated. "This new threat, may be interested in everything in this system."

"And we must be prepared to handle them, should they decide to attack the Drule Supremacy."

"And what of the Alliance?"

"In this, we may be acquiring a new ally in this," he stated. "But until they are a threat, our current situation with the Alliance shall remain what it is."

Zeya nodded. "I will keep in contact with my spies," she stated. "You, don't let your guard down either."

"Let me know if they dare to near Vallis," he said as he stood.

"That is on one of my priorities," she stated. "If we happen to capture one of their scouts, what would you like to do?"

"Find out what there are and their weaknesses," he said. "Maybe figure out their technology."

Zeya nodded. "I will let my forces know of this as well," she said. "I will - "

Zeya then breathed in deeply. Lotor turned to her seeing that her eyes had widened.

"Zeya?"

Zeya then held her hands to her head as a sudden pain filled her head. She shook her head as she closed her eyes, falling to her knees.

"Child of Arus, you are the next destiny" the voice echoed in her head.

When she opened her eyes again, as the voices she heard continued to chant, she let out a scream as a sharp pain coursed through her right arm. She held out her arm in front of her as a burning sensation surrounded her wrist.

"What is happening?" Lotor asked as he kneeled before her.

Zeya could only shake her head as she closed her eyes again. Suddenly, visions filled her entire being; images that seemed like memories..

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

Princess Karone stood beside Queen Marlena as they both stared up at the Lion Statue. Princess Orla soon joined them before the cave that the Lion stood guard before.

"We must hurry," Orla stated breathlessly. "They're coming."

"Are you sure its here, Marlena?" Karone asked as she held up the torch she was carrying.

Marlena could only nod. "Alfor hid it here," she said. "We have to get to it before they do."

Marlena stared up at the statue before them and pressed on its outstretched paw. Just at the entrance of the cave, the ground gave way, revealing a set of stairs. Marlena breathed in deeply as she grasped ahold of her own torch.

"This way."

Marlena was first to go down the set of stairs, and was quickly followed by Orla and then Karone. As soon as the three were down the flight of stairs, at the bottom, Marlena pressed on a loose stone and the stairs were quickly hidden again, by a sheet of rock as it slid back into place.

"Are you sure its this way?"

Marlena nodded as they hurried down the winding stone caverns, that went deep into the mountain side.

"I asked Alfor to keep it here, knowing that we would need it soon," Marlena stated. "I was still researching it."

"Where did it come from?" Karone asked as she followed close behind.

"I do not know," Marlena asked. "But we have learned so much from it. I personally took on the responsibility of taking care of it."

"If Zarkon ever knew of this..."

Marlena nodded. "Come on, its up ahead."

Karone and Orla followed close as the narrow cavern slowly opened up to a huge underground cave. Marlena then waved her hand and suddenly the dark cave lit up with bright lights.

Orla gasped as she slowly dropped the torch she was holding.

"Marlena, this .. "

Marlena could only nod as she stared up at the gigantic structure before them. "We owe much of what we have to what we learned from this machine," Marlena stated. "I've devoted my life to seeing that its protected from our enemies."

Karone moved out from behind Orla and was caught by surprise as she stared at the giant machine before them. Then a sudden loud roar filled the entire cave they were in.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

Zeya breathed in deeply as she clutched her right arm. Suddenly, a silver metal band formed around her right wrist as she resisted the pain coursing through her.

"Zeya?"

"Lotor," she managed to say as she gasped for air. "I saw it."

"Saw what?" Lotor asked.

Zeya let out a scream and then fell back, as Lotor caught her. "Zeya, what did you see?'

"A white lion," she stated before falling unconscious. Lotor looked her over, seeing that she was still breathing, but her pulse raced.

He then looked down at her arm and saw that metal band was now encircled around her right wrist. Lifting up her arm, he noticed the intricate design there. Two jewels endorned the center of the band.

"What is this?"


	4. Chapter 4

########################################################################  
A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
########################################################################

----------------  
Chapter 4  
----------------

----- Planet Arus ------

Neive slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, but soon cleared. He found himself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

He let out a soft groan, as he tried to sit himself up, and realized that his head ached. He breathed in deeply as the pain slowly disappeared, then came to realize a weight on his covered legs.

He looked down and saw that Katherine was sprawled over him, sleeping soundly from the chair she was sitting in. He could not help but smile seeing her there. Reminded him of an incident when he was in the academy and she had stayed at his bedside after he'd had crashed his practice ship during runs.

He slowly moved a bit, when he saw the silver band still on his right wrist. He looked down at it, as two jewels, one red and one blue, adorned the etched metal band. He looked at the familiar symbol, wondering what it was for. He could not see a way of removing it either.

He pulled away the covers as he tried to extricate himself, but his stirring caused Katherine to wake up. She met his gaze as she tried to shake the sleep off.

"Neive?" she asked.

He smiled. "Yeah," he answered.

She looked around, stretching as she let out a yawn. She then turned to him again, and he could not help but laugh when her expression then changed to one of surprise.

"Neive, you're alright?" she nearly exclaimed.

Neive closed his eyes as her sudden raise in voice caused him to wince. "Shh!" he said. "I feel like I have a hangover."

Katherine looked at him. "Hangover?" she asked. "You gave me a scare last night!"

Neive winced again but met her gaze. "What happened?"

"Whatever that metal thing is, it sent a shock through the both of us, and knocked you unconscious," she said pointing down at his right wrist.

Neive looked at it again. "I don't know what it is," he said. He then met her gaze. "But before I blanked out, I swore I heard a familiar voice."

"Voice?"

He nodded. "It was speaking in Arusian," he stated.

"What did it say?"

"Child of Arus, you are the next destiny."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Ebb ------

Allura slowly woke, sitting up quickly as she breathed heavily. She grabbed onto the blankets that covered her as she held her hand to her head, trying to shake the sudden headache she had.

"Ally?"

Alllura looked up to see Hunk standing at her bedside.

"Hunk?" she asked. "Where am I?"

"Keith brought you in last night, saying that you fainted out on the balcony," he said. "The medics here have kept you in the wards to watch over you."

"Fainted?" she asked. She then closed her eyes feeling a little dizzy. "I was..I was speaking with Keith on the balcony."

"And you suddenly reacted when this appeared," he said.

Hunk lifted her right arm and they both stared the metal band that now rested on her wrist. Allura looked down at it, seeing an etched design in the metal. A red and a blue jewel adorned the strange bracelet.

She then closed her eyes as a sudden pain went through her, and then dizziness. "Hunk?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You ever ran across anything in the old archive about how my father came to develop Voltron?"

Hunk slowly shook his head. "That was one secret he definitely took with him when he died, princess," he stated. "We found nothing; no documentation as to what he did when he created Voltron, which I think is a good thing."

Allura slowly nodded. "Then why do I feel that it wasn't my father who was the main force behind Voltron's creation?"

Hunk met her gaze. "What do you mean?"

"Hunk, have Keith and the others meet with me later this afternoon," she stated. "I have the odd feeling that whatever caused this to appear, has to do with the development of the Voltron Lions."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Doom ------

"Zeya?"

Zeya furrowed her brow, as she slowly opened her eyes. A bright light shone down on her so she brought up her arm to block it.

"Wh..where am I?" she asked as her vision started to clear.

"Haggar's laboratory."

With a groan, Zeya pushed herself up to a sit upon the bed she was lying on as the feeling of dizziness faded from her. She blinked her eyes twice before meeting the gaze of her brother.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"I brought you here when you suddenly fainted," Lotor stated. "And this appeared."

Zeya looked down at her right wrist and saw the metal bracelet around her wrist. She looked at it, unfamiliar with the etched design. She then shook her head as she looked around.

"Damn, I thought that it was a dream," she said.

"What dream?"

Zeya looked at him. "Have you ever heard of a woman named Karone?" she asked.

Lotor's expression went blank for a moment. "Where did you hear that name?"

Zeya looked up at him wondering why he acted the way he did. "In my dream," she stated. "Lotor, what is it?"

"Princess Karone?" he asked.

Zeya slowly nodded. "Yes," she stated.

"Princess Karone was the daughter of King Neason and Queen Sharone, of the Kingdom of Mythrias on Planet Arus," Haggar stated as she came to stand before the two. "She was your mother, Princess Zeya."

Zeya's eyes widened as she stared at the old witch. "My mother?"

Haggar nodded. "When she was captured during an attack on Planet Arus, she agreed to marry King Zarkon in exchange to save the other two kingdoms, Altaire and Helena from attack," she stated. "However, that promise was soon broken soon after you were born."

"Wha..what happened to her?"

Haggar turned to Lotor and he nodded. "When she planned the assassination attempt against King Zarkon, for her treachery she was thrown into the Pit of Skulls." Haggar stated. "Several years later, along with a group of rebels, they were able to steal a slave ship and escape, to return to Arus. There, she later died from lazon poisoning."

Zeya breathed in deeply as she looked down at the ground before her. "I must go to Arus." She said quietly.

"I must protest against that, princess," Haggar stated. "You are chasing after a ghost, a woman who did not love or care for you."

Zeya's eyes narrowed as she looked to the old witch. "Its not to chase after a ghost, Haggar," she stated. "Its to find out the secret to Voltron's creation." She breathed in deeply. "To find the source of Alfor's secrets."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Ebb ------

Allura breathed in deeply as she walked out into the courtyard where Hunk, Pidge, and Keith were standing with Ambassador Remlis and Ambassador Hersche. She smiled to herself before approaching them.

"Ahh, princess Allura," Hersche said as he stepped forward and greeted her. "Your friends told use that you had a fainting spell last night. I hope that everything is alright."

She smiled. "Yes, everything is, Ambassador." She said. "I believe the long trip from Arus and probably not feeling well before the trip coupled with the ongoing meetings were just tiring me down. But I am fine now."

"Now, now, princess," he stated as he took her hands into his own. "You sure do make this old man feel his age, to see such young people complain about tiring down." He laughed to himself. "However, Ebb is probably the best place to have an episode I guess."

"Princess Allura, I hope all is well," Remlis stated as Hersche escorted her over to their small gathering.

"As well as they can be," Allura stated. "Ambasadors, if you don't mind, I must speak with my teammates on a diplomatic matter."

Hersche smiled to himself. "Ah, I know when us old folks are getting in the way of you young'uns," he stated. "Ambassador Remlis, if you don't mind, I hear that Ambassador Krysl has some interesting news of his discovery of a cure for the Aruca disease in the Emerald Quadrant."

Remlis looked at the small group before smiling and then joining Hersche as he escorted her back toward the palace.

"So, what is it?" Hunk asked.

"I contacted Lance and he says that Neive had an episode last night as well."

"What?"

"Seems that he and Kit decided to go on a treasure hunt, into the underground tunnels and they ran into something that cause Neive to blank out," she stated. "They were following a map that was hidden in one of my mother's old diaries."

"A map?" Pidge asked. "what kind of map?"

Allura could only shrug. "Something that led Neive to find a small box that contained a metal armlet, exactly like the one that appeared on my wrist, however, his is etched with the Royal symbol for Helena; mine is of Altaire."

"Why suddenly you both are wearing armlets from your own kingdoms?"

"I don't know," she stated. "Lance has stated that he would like us to return to Arus a soon as possible. Neive decided to go through the rest of my mother's diary after that episode and he ran into something very interesting."

"What is it?" Pidge asked

Allura met Pidge's gaze. "My mother wrote her last four diaries with hidden message strewn throughout the entire thing."

"What?"

She nodded. "From what he has been able to decipher, the secret to everything that my father built his legacy on, is hidden within the written passages of my mother's diaries."

"You mean-?"

"All that my father did to build Voltron was thought to be lost, to protect us, and prevent our enemies from ever finding out," she stated. "But it wasn't my father who was the main force behind Voltron's creation."

She turned away for a moment as she stared down at the metal armlet. "It was my mother's devotion to keep her family, her planet safe that did."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Ebb ------

Ambassador Remlis stood just inside the of the palace entrance from the courtyard as she stared intently at the small group, known as the Voltron Force. She studied them greatly, but she had all that she needed.

She stepped away before pressing a small button on a communicator she carried.

"Taisia here," she said into it. "I have what we need."

--Good work Taisia, return to the ship, we make course for Crimson Quadrant.-

"Yes, sire."

Remlis turned toward the courtyard once again. She then smiled to herself as she pressed another button then suddenly disappeared from Planet Ebb.


	5. Chapter 5

########################################################################  
A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
########################################################################

----------------  
Chapter 5  
----------------

----- Planet Arus ------

Katherine slowly entered the Rec Room, seeing that it was turned into a study room for Neive as he worked with Shane on the deciphering the former Queen's diaries. She regarded them both as they seemed oblivious to her presence.

"See here, there is definitely a pattern," Shane stated as he showed Neive a sheet of paper. "Your Aunt was definitely, clever."

Neive looked over the piece of paper as he studied it. "So she was," he stated. "Can you imagine the intellect to do all of this, the way she did it?"

"The devotion of a mother to her child is something that will challenge the intellect of many."

They both looked up as Katherine entered to rec room, approaching them as Shane smiled. "Kit, you have to see this," he said excitedly. "Not only did she hide all the information within her diaries, it was Queen Marlena who was the soul engineer behind the robot lions."

Katherine's expression paled. "Engineer?" she asked. "Queen Marlena?"

Shane nodded. "Is there anything that Allura knows about her mother?" he asked. He then turned to Neive. "Or how about your mother, Neive?"

The older man shrugged as he grabbed a hold of one of the open diaries. "My mother hardly spoke of her sister while I was growing up," he stated. "Why don't we go and ask her?"

Katherine slowly nodded as Neive gathered some of the diaries together. Queen Orla would be the only one to know Queen Marlena the best, and the reasons behind why Marlena was not revered for the her accomplishments.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- The Elyts, Emeral Qudarant ------

Rolsin looked down on the map before him as he carefully studied the star charts strewn on the table before him. After having taken Planet Minas, he smiled to himself as he marked off the planets his people have conquered and taken from the Drule Supremacy. He knew that there were only a few left, to mark the end of the Drule occupation within the galaxy.

A tall man, with olive skin, and steel blue eyes, Rolsin was the embodiment of all the Triasian qualities. Ascending to power as High Chancellor, he knew that all that his people have done, was for the good of all Triasians.

"Rolsin, Taisia has arrived."

The young man looked up as his brother joined him at the center console, and they were both then joined by their youngest brother. For a stranger, staring at the three men would be like staring at a mirror that reflected the same image three times. For it was in the Triasians nature, that three identical were born at one time.

Rolsin was the oldest of the triplets, followed by Relins and then Risen. Together, they ruled 3 of the 17 most powerful kingdoms on Triasus, and given the mission to destroy what was left of the Drule Empire; to take what the fallen supremacy had long lost to the Galaxy Alliance.

"That is good, we will need to go over her reports," Rolsin stated. "Any news on the Planet Doom?"

Risen met his brother's gaze. "King Zarkon had defected from the Drule supremacy quite some years ago," he reported. "However, he continues to wage war against several Galaxy Alliance planets, especially one little gem in the Azure Quadrant."

Rolsin slowly nodded. "Yes, Planet Arus," he stated. "Our mission isn't to travel there, we must finish our mission here."

"What do you have planned?"

"That is where Taisia's report will determine our course of action," he stated.

Risen and Relins slowly nodded. "And what of the reports of the giant robot that has defeated King Zarkon's forces?"

Rolsin smiled to himself. "There is nothing we should worry about," Rolsin stated. "Our forces are ten times the strength of anything these primitive planets have."

"I would throw caution to the wind, brother," Relins stated. "The Galaxy Alliance presence in this galaxy is a strong one."

"And they will be defeated as with every other civilization we've conquered."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Arus ------

Allura stared at the view screen before her as she read over the small passages being displayed, written by her mother so many years ago.

"Your mother was a genius," Neive stated as he seated himself in front of the console as he pulled up several more passages to display. "Your father saw the intellect your mother held, and he used that as the basis of creating Arus' ultimate defensive weapon. He also knew that if your mother was implicated in any of the creation of the Voltron Lions, that all of Arus would be in danger, so he immediately destroyed any plans, schematics that he had drawn up, based on your mother's design."

Allura turned to him. "My mother designed Voltron?" she asked.

Neive nodded. "Not only did she design him, she created a proto-type before the actual building of Voltron commenced."

"Prototype?" Pidge asked. "What do you mean proto-type?"

Neive pulled up on of the diary pages and had the computer pull random words and passages out of the written passages.

"Not only did she build a proto-type, she hid its designs within the diaries she wrote," he stated. "Arusian, even as old as it is, is a very logical language, but nearly forgotten because of the influx of the terran settlements through-out the galaxy. The terran language was absorbed by many planets, as a means of communication between the planets, and was soon adopted by the Galaxy Alliance as an official language. Your mother realized that she could use the old language of Arus, one that she knew by heart, as a means to save the plans that were used to create the Voltron Lion ships.

"As she wrote her passages in her diary, I found several instances where certain words were being used, when they wouldn't have in a personal documentation of one's only experiences," he said. "I started noticing these odd occurrences the more I read the passages."

"She was hiding the instructions within her own diary," Allura said quietly.

Neive nodded. "And when I started to pull the words, the unusual ones, I started to notice another set of passages started to form."

Neive typed quickly on the keyboard before him and the computer started to scan several pages of the diary, pulling words he had programmed for it to look for. Soon, another passage, written in Arusian started to form and Allura could only stare at the screen before her.

"The lion that is powered by the wind, shall be the main lion of our mighty defender," Allura read allowed, roughly translating what was on the screen before her. "It is here, that my husband, shall command the chosen Lion Knights, to fight the evil that awaits us. To defend Arus, against those who seek harm against our people."

"That is the Black Lion," Pidge stated. "She's writing about the Black Lion."

"My father was supposed to pilot the Black Lion," Allura commented.

"There's more, and this should be quite interesting," Neive stated as the computer continued to pull words from the diary.

"The five lions shall be our support; based on the elements that power us all," Neive continued for Allura. "Earth, Wind, Water, Fire and the force of nature itself. It is all that we could complete, and hope that they will be enough to fight against the forces of King Zarkon. In time, the sixth shall find its place among the main five."

Lance gasped as he stared up at the screen. "Sixth?" he asked. "There's a sixth lion?"

Neive met his gaze. "According to her passages in the rest of the diaries, a sixth lion was definitely built but it was never fully tested," he stated. "However, the rest of her diaries never addressed the location or if it survived the original attack on Arus, by King Zarkon's forces."

"A sixth lion ship?" Pidge asked. "Why did we not know about it?'

"Because, the only ones who could pilot the ship are those born of a royal bloodline."

The group turned toward the entrance to the control room as Queen Orla slowly entered. "Marlena wanted to safe guard the sixth lion from Zarkons forces, so she insisted that the only way to activate it would be the interaction of all three royal bloodlines of Arus. It was supposed to be Marlena, Karone and I, who could control the lion, but when Karone was lost to us, Marlena decided to scrap the project altogether."

Allura walked toward her Aunt as she came to stand before them. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"We lost the location of the last lion when Zarkon attacked Mythrias," she stated. "Marlena was the one who had the lion ship moved, but we do not no where. For all we know, it was destroyed in the chaos."

"Then explain why this appeared to us," Allura stated as she held her wrist up to show her Aunt. "Neive also wears the same armlet; if the Sixth lion was destroyed, why would he and I wear something that is associated with it?"

Orla could only shake her head. "The armlets are the devices that would activate the lion ship, but without the third...without Karone, there is no way of knowing if the ship survived."

Neive slowly stood as he turned to his mother. "Mom, there is more that you are not telling us," he stated. "Aunt Marlena knew that Voltron was more than enough to ward off the forces of King Zarkon; why would the sixth lion need to be developed?"

Orla turned to him. "Long before any of you were born, my sister, was sent on a diplomatic mission to a system in the far universe," she stated. "When she returned, all she would relate to us on the whole thing was that we needed to prepare ourselves for whatever forces; whatever evil that wanted to destroy what we have here in Arus.

"At the time I didn't understand what she meant, and only assumed that when King Zarkon attacked Arus when he did, that her warning before was attributed to him and the Drule supremacy."

"It wasn't, wasn't it?" Neive stated.

Orla shook her head. "When she revealed to Karone and I the ship she had constructed, built, she uttered one final warning, that Zarkon would be only a small taste of the forces we would encounter in the near future."

"Small taste?" Hunk asked. "What do you mean small taste?"

"She never explained after that," she stated. "And soon, she was lost to all of us."

"Aunt Orla, she must've said something," Allura stated. "Why go through the trouble, but never use the ship? Why base it on three people to activate the lion?"

"If we can find that lion, maybe we can find the answers we need," Neive stated.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- The Elyts, Emeral Qudarant ------

Taisia, Tamaris, and Trisia stood to one side as Risen, Relins and Rolsin stood in the center of the small meeting room they were in. With a nod from Rolsin, the six seated themselves at the large meeting table as Taisia met his gaze.

"So, this is your report?" Rolsin asked as he looked over the digital pad before him.

Taisia nodded. "Posing as an Ambassador at their recent meetings on Ebb, provided a much needed look into the rulers of the nearby systems."

Rolsin nodded. "And I see that you've also noted about this...Princess Allura and her Voltron Force?"

Taisia nodded. "I knew that we needed to heed the reports we received from the outlying planets about this unusual princess."

"Arus, wasn't it?" Rolsin asked. "And this Voltron?"

"Their main defense machine," Taisia stated. "A robot warrior developed by their late King."

Rolsin nodded as he placed the digital pad down and inserted a disc into the computer before him. Above the table, a holographic image projected the images of the mighty robot defender and recorded images of the robot in battle.

"So, this is the robot that has the Drule Empire shaking in their boots?" he asked.

"Piloted by five pilots, originally who were sent by the Galaxy Alliance as an answer to a call for help by the current ruler, Princess Allura," Taisia stated. "When one of their members fell, the princess took the pilots places as one of the lion ships pilot's."

"I see," he stated. "So, this princess, she is the only one that rules this planet?"

"As it seems, she's not even anointed to be the ruler yet," she commented. "But, she does have final say over what can be done on her planet."

"Do we have information concerning the other pilots?" Rolsin asked as he continued to study the images before him.

"Their captain, Hayashi, is a Vallusian," she stated.

Rolsin met her gaze. "Vallusian?" he asked.

Taisia nodded. "The grandson of King Vellum; part terran part Vallusian," she stated. "Seems that he and the Voltron Force were the ones to do away with Kellar."

"Ah, so this is the young upstart?" Rolsin asked as he paused the image of the young captain. "Kellar was a fool to think that his absolute reign over the people of Vallis was secure."

"Its also apparent that the young princess, is somewhat enamored with the captain," Taisia noted. "A rumor that has been fueled by recent events concerning the young captain."

Rolsin smiled to himself. "That could be used to our advantage," he stated. "If the princess of Arus is indeed involved with the captain, it could provide us with the edge we need to conquer their system."

"I advise that we study them closer, to be sure of their weakness, sire," Taisia stated. "The Voltron Force has been known to get out of much dire situations."

Rolsin nodded. "Good work, Taisia," he stated as he went through the images before him. He then suddenly paused on an image that caught his attention.

"And who is this?"

Taisia looked up at the holographic image before them at a recent recording of a battle between the Voltron Force and the forces of Prince Lotor. To the young prince's side, a young woman stood, with skin lighter than the young prince, but the same shock of long white hair flowed behind her.

"I have no information concerning her, sire," Taisia stated. "However, the rumor is that she is the last child of King Zarkon."

"Interesting," he stated. "Very interesting."

"Rolsin, what are your plans?" Risen asked.

Rolsin blinked twice before meeting the gaze of his brother. "We commence with our attack against Planet Doom,' he stated. "Ready our forces; I want that planet to be lifeless when we are through."

"Yes, sire," Risen stated.

"However....' Rolsin continued. "If you happen to run into this young woman, I want her brought before me."

"I will instruct the forces to do so," Relsin stated.

Rolsin nodded as he stared up at the image before him. Somehow, the young woman intrigued him, but he didn't know why.


	6. Chapter 6

########################################################################  
A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com  
  
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
########################################################################  
  
----------------  
Chapter 6  
----------------  
  
----- Planet Arus ------  
  
Zeya breathed in deeply as she eyed the landscape before her. This would be her first time to ever set foot on this planet, and she hoped for whatever reason that brought her here, it would be quickly discovered so that she could return home to Planet Doom.  
  
She knew coming here alone would be a gamble, but new reports about a disturbance in the Emerald Quadrant warranted that her brother stay behind to assess the situation. She however, felt that whatever it is that was behind the appearance of the strange metal band on her wrist, and the sudden realization that her mother was actually from Arus, only fueled her curiosity  
  
She then looked toward the sky as a familiar sound came to her. In the distance set against the pale sky, she watched as one of the Lion ships flew above. She took cover under a nearby tree as she watched it circle around several times.  
  
"Blue lion," she said to herself. "Princess Allura pilots that one."  
  
She watched it for a bit longer then decided that whatever it was doing, it was not on a routine flight pattern.  
  
She then felt a weird tingling sensation coming from her right wrist, and when she looked down, she saw that the metal armlet she was wearing was reacting to something. The red jewel that was embeded into it, was not pulsating with an unsual energy, blinking as if it was signaling for something.  
  
"Or near something," Zeya thought aloud.  
  
She turned slightly away from the direction she was facing and noticed that the jewel started to fade and slow in the blinking. When she turned back, the jewel then regained life once again.  
  
"Could it..."  
  
Zeya looked up toward the sky trying to locate the lion ship. It was nowhere to be seen. With a deep breath, she started toward the direction she had been facing, over the open  
field beyond the forest she was now in.  
  
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/  
  
Neive watched as the landscape before him raced as he brought the Blue Lion to circle around the area where the first kingdom of Arus to fall under Zarkon's attack had once existed.  
  
Mythrias.  
  
All that was left was a barren grassy field, where once a magnificent castle stood. There was not even a sign of the city that once stood just beyond the walls of the castle.  
  
"Blue Lion, to Castle Control, Im just finishing up the last of my route, requesting to break off for a moment."  
  
--This is Castle Control, Lance here,-- Neive heard Lance's reply. --We have you in the Southern Sector 4-2. Did you see something out there? --  
  
"Lance, Im playing on a hunch," Neive answered. "Please relay to Allura that Im going to investigate the area where Mythrias once stood."  
  
-- Would you like one of the others to join you? -- Lance came back.  
  
"I dont see that there is any immediate danger to explore around here," Neive stated. "It just an empty field out here."  
  
-- Keep your communicator on, otherwise,-- Lance replied. --I'll inform the Princess of where you are. --  
  
"Thanks," Neive answered. "I will return in a hour's time."  
  
-- Roger that, Blue Lion, -- Lance answered. --If you're not back, we'll send out the calvary.--  
  
Neive smiled. "Roger, and Blue Lion out."  
  
Neive turned to his screen as he circled around once more. Suddenly, he felt a strange tingling coming from the armlet around his right wrist. He looked down at the strange metal and saw that the red jewel that adorned it, was pulsating and blinking.  
  
"Looks like my hunch has paid off," he stated to himself.  
  
He circled his lion again, and when the jewel stopped blinking, he veered the lion back toward the area he had been in. As soon as he neared, the jewel began to blink again.  
  
"Now, let's just see what is exactly around here."  
  
He quickly found a place to land and brought the Blue Lion down.  
  
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/  
  
----- Planet Doom ------  
  
Lotor walked down the corridor in the Doom Castle as he read over the most recent reports sent from the scouts from the edge of their system. He was beginning to not like what he was reading.  
  
"Lotor, you should not be concerning yourself with matters you do not understand."  
  
He quickly turned to see that Haggar was trailing behind him, her blue cat walking by her side.  
  
"What do you mean, witch?"  
  
"Your father has everything well under control," she stated as she walked passed him. "You should concern yourself over what your sister is doing on Arus."  
  
"She went there to find why that armlet appeared," he stated. "What is my father up to?"  
  
Haggar turned to him. "You will have to speak with him on this matter," she stated.  
  
"Is the reports on those attacking the outter Drule aligned planets true?" he asked.  
  
"Yes it seems that is what is happening."  
  
"Who is doing all of this?" he asked. "Why against the Drules?"  
  
Haggar turned to him. "That is a matter for your father," she stated. "Speak with him, if you must know."  
  
"Im tired of your games, Haggar," he stated.  
  
"Games?" Haggar asked. "If you belive this to be a game, Lotor, you will never be ready to match yourself against your enemies."  
  
Lotor scowled as the old witch then walked passed him. He knew his father was busy tracking down a strange force for the last few months, but he never let on as to what he was doing. But, now that the reports of an enemy battallion was slowly overtaking the Drule planets on the outskirts of their system, the revelation soon hit him, that they may be in for a fight they never dreamed of.  
  
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/  
  
----- Planet Arus ------  
  
Neive threw his helmet into the main compartment of the lion, before jumping down to the grass below him. He breathed in deeply as he looked around.  
  
"If Mythrias was still here, we'd be in the heart of the Castle's court yard," he stated to himself.  
  
The sensation from his wrist caught his attention as he looked down at the armlet. The red jewel continued to pulsate, but the blinking was now a little quicker.  
  
"So, are you supposed to tell me if we are close to find that sixth lion?"  
  
Then he suddenly felt as if he was not alone. He was vaguely aware of another presence near him, and as he eyed the forest before him, he quickly placed his hand on the blaster on his hip, turning around as he withdrew it from its holster, only to find another one pointing directly at him, a mere inch from his face.  
  
"I wouldn't do that."  
  
Neive slowly dropped his blaster to the ground before him as he raised his hands, and then stared at the young woman before him.  
  
"Princess Zeya?" he asked. "What brings you to Planet Arus?"  
  
Zeya eyed the young pilot as she held firm her aim. "A curiosity," she stated. "Where is the princess Allura, I thought she pilots this lion."  
  
"I am the pilot for the Blue Lion of the Beta Team," he stated.  
  
"Well, you know my name, what is yours?"  
  
"Neive," he stated as he took a step back.  
  
The movement caught her attention as she reacted to it. It was the reaction he wanted, as he then stepped forward in a quick lunge and grabbed ahold of her arm to knock her blaster out of her hand. The blaster went off, the lazer grazing the side of his neck. He quickly stepped back as he placed his hand to the burn, but was able to disarm her in the process.  
  
Zeya looked to him as he tossed the blaster aside. "Foolishly heroic of you," she stated.  
  
Neive reacted when she lunged toward him, quickly dodging her strike, however, his movement didn't prepare him for the sudden roundhouse kick she delivered to his center, causing him to double over. He fell to his knees as he coughed, but was ready for her next kick as he grabbed her leg as she delivered it, and used her momentum to throw her to the side. Zeya let out a groan as she was sent into the side of the Blue Lion, but her pain was short lived as she turned quickly toward him, as he tried to regain his footing.  
  
She attacked him, and every strike she delivered, he was quick to block them. She silently thanked Lotor for her the additional training in the Doom Arena, as she fought against this pilot. His skill was definitely on par with the soldiers she had seen fight.  
  
As she delivered another hit, he grabbed her by her arm to swing it behind her, but she was quick to use her free arm to hit him squarely in the side of his face with his elbow, then quickly turning to deliver a strike with her right arm. It was at that moment, he brought up his right arm to block the attack and it was the sound of metal hitting metal that caused them both to stop attacking as they stood there staring at each other.  
  
Neive's eyes traveled to where there arms had contacted, and his eyes widened when he saw that she was wearing the same armlet as he. As he looked to her, he saw the same expression that he wore.  
  
"Where did you get that?" he asked almost breathless.  
  
"What does it matter to you?" she seethed as she tried to attack him again. He quickly grabbed her free arm, to throw her to the ground.  
  
There she landed, on her back as the wind was knocked out of her. Before she could get to her feet, he grabbed her by her wrists and pinned her down, with his own legs as he straddled her.  
  
"Where did you get that?" he repeated.  
  
Zeya stared up at him. "Its none of your business, Arusian," she stated as she struggled under him. "Get off of me!"  
  
"You are coming back to the Castle with me," he stated as he got off of her, holding her by her wrists as he pulled her to her feet.  
  
Zeya struggled in his hold as he dragged her up.  
  
"Let me go," she demanded. "You will regret this."  
  
"You have some explaining to do, especially about that armlet you're wearing."  
  
"Why are you wearing one?" she asked as he dragged her toward the Blue Lion.  
  
"Tell me what you know about the sixth lion."  
  
"Sixth lion?" Zeya asked. "What sixth lion?"  
  
Neive stopped as he turned to her. "The only reason you'd be wearing that is if you were an Arusian Royal."  
  
"Then why are you wearing one?" she asked. "I thought Princess Allura was the last royal on Arus."  
  
"All will be answered when you start answering some questions we have," he stated.  
  
Zeya then pulled hard which caused the both of them to fall to the grass below them. She quickly stood, pulling out a blade from the boot she wore, and held it firmly as she watched him get to his feet. With a scream, she lunged toward him, stabbing him in his lower abdomen. Neive let out a scream, which was then overpowered by the loud roar eminating from the Blue Lion. Zeya looked up as the lion ship suddenly came to life, and was then towering over the both of them. She then found herself pushed to the ground, as she hit her head against the cool ground, causing her to lose consciousness as the sky above her turned to darkness.  
  
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/  
  
----- Planet Vallis ------  
  
Anala slowly laid little Reece into the small cradle as he covered him with a small blanket.  
She slowly rubbed his back as he was lulled into a sleep. She bent over and kissed him on the back of his head before turning around.  
  
She let out a gasp, seeing a dark figure standing in the shadows of her open balcony doors. As the figure came forward she saw that it was Lotor. He looked at her before collapsing to the floor.  
  
"Lotor!" she yelled as she ran over to him.  
  
She quickly cradled him in her arms, seeing that his clothes was tattered, and several open wounds were prevalent. A gash above his right eye started to bleed and bruises covered his exposed skin.  
  
"They came out of nowhere," he mumbled. "We were not prepared."  
  
"Lotor, what happened?" she asked as tears came to her eyes. "Who did this?"  
  
"You must warn your brother," he said weakly. "Must warn them all."  
  
"Lotor, please, tell me what happened."  
  
"They attacked Planet Doom," he said as his eyes grew heavy. "You must tell them to be prepared for them."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Triasians..."  
  
Anala could only hold him to her as he fell unscious. She reached for his hand closest to her and saw that he was holding a small message capsule. She picked it up and stared at it for a moment. She then kissed him lightly on his forehead before gently laying him down on the ground and standing. She ran toward her door and pressed a button on it.  
  
--My Queen, is anything the matter?-- the voice of one her guards answered.  
  
"Please have Xue and my mother visit my chambers," she requested. "Tell them its urgent."  
  
--Yes, my queen.--  
  
Anala stared at the capsule she held in her hand and turned back to where Lotor laid. She then placed the capsule on the table near her, and went to tend to her husband.  
  
-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/  
  
----- Planet Arus ------  
  
Lance studied the reports before him, going over the last security checks before relieving his duty to the next guard to take over his post. As he signed over the last few papers, the alarms in the castle started to go off. He looked up at the view-screen before him as he read over the sensor readings.  
  
"Lance?!"  
  
Lance turned around as Keith and Pidge joined him.  
  
"What's going on?" Keith asked.  
  
"I dont know," he stated. "Im not detecting any ships coming in."  
  
"Has everyone checked in from their patrol routes?" Keith asked.  
  
Lance nodded. "Neive did go out and check out the area where Mythrias once stood," Lance stated. "His hour is almost up."  
  
"Has reported back in in the meantime?" Keith asked.  
  
"No," he stated. "In fact, this is getting way to close for him."  
  
Keith turned to Pidge and the young pilot was quick to sit in the chair that Lance just vacated.  
  
"Its a good thing, me and Hunk installed those new call back routines we programmed."  
  
He quickly typed in a few codes into the computer. But then became frustrated when it didn't work.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"The routine is correct," Pidge stated. "Its as if the Lion isn't listening."  
  
"What?" Lance asked. "I've seen you use it, all the Lions responded to the call back."  
  
"Wait, this is odd," Pidge stated. "Oh no."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Neive's life sign is fading," Pidge stated. "Im not getting any active signs from him."  
  
"Pidge, take Hunk out to where he last reported from," Keith ordered. "Lance, notify the Princess and Queen Orla that Neive may be in trouble."  
  
"Wait, Keith," Pidge stated. "That's not what caused the alarm to go off."  
  
"What did?"  
  
"For a while now, I set the outlying sattelites to monitor the movements from Planet Doom, making sure that we had an early warning system going," Pidge stated. "It would pick up some of the signals that were being sent by Planet Doom to their outlying forces."  
  
"And this is what is caused the alarms to go off?" Lance asked.  
  
"No," Pidge stated as he turned to them. "The sattelites no longer pick up a Planet Doom."  
  
Lance's expression paled as he stared down at the younger pilot.  
  
"Pidge, what do you mean, they no longer pick up Planet Doom?"  
  
"I'm getting NOTHING," Pidge stated. "Not even a noise signal. Its like Planet Doom was suddenly erased."  
  
"Long range sattelites, Pidge," Keith stated as he leaned over him. "See if they can pick up something."  
  
Pidge quickly switched the view-screen to the long range sattelites and directed them toward where Planet Doom would be located.  
  
"Magnify until we can see that area."  
  
Pidge nodded as he zoomed the image. As the image on the screen before them cleared, Lance let out an audible gasp. Where Planet Doom once stood, only huge pieces of what once was a planet floated; large meteorites flying freely.  
  
"What the hell did this?" Keith asked as he stared up at the screen before them. "Pidge, you and Hunk get Neive. Lance, notify the Galaxy Alliance of our new findings."  
  
"Keith, what are we..."  
  
"Lance, just do it," he ordered. "We'll worry about what happened to Doom as soon as we get Neive back here."  
  
"If Doom is gone," Pidge started. "Then what happened to Prince Lotor and Princess Zeya? King Zarkon? Haggar?"  
  
"Pidge, go and help Hunk retrieve the Blue Lion and Neive," Keith repeated. "We'll deal with this as soon as everyone is updated."  
  
Pidge slowly nodded as he stood.  
  
Lance seated himself at the control panel as he opened a channel to Galaxy Garrison on Earth. Keith could only stare at the image before him suddenly feeling as if the destruction before him, was familiar. And a single word echoed through him.  
  
---Triasus---  
  



	7. Chapter 7

########################################################################  
A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
########################################################################

----------------  
Chapter 7  
----------------

----- Planet Arus ------

Neive slowly opened his eyes, breathing in deeply as he did. His vision was dark, but he was aware of the sharp pain coming from his side. He tried to move, but found that something was pinning his legs to ground as he laid on his front.

It was then he realized that he wasn't lying on the ground when he felt a small movement below him. The sound of another person breathing caused him to push up on his arms, wondering if he was lying on someone else. As soon as he did, he felt his head hit something metal, and he let out a groan as he fell back down.

This elicited a soft groan from whomever he was lying on. He then thought back to how he got here, why he felt pinned and now lying on someone, with a stabbing pain to his stomach.

Then it suddenly hit him; he realized that he had been fighting with Zeya when the Blue Lion reacted and nearly attacked her, as if protecting him after she had stabbed him. He had tackled her to the ground to avoid getting hurt and as he did, they had hit the ground hard, causing him to black out. He then deduced that it was the Blue Lion that was covering them both, pinning him to the ground.

As his vision adjusted to the darkness, he was able to pull a small light from his belt and turn it on. He looked down, as he stared at the young princess. There was a small gash on her right temple and a small bruising started to form over her right cheek.

"Zeya," he whispered.

Her brows furrowed, as she opened her eyes slowly. He brought up his hand to brush away her hair, to help her breathe better.

As her eyes focused, she looked up at him then suddenly reacted to his presence.  
He held her down, to keep her from moving.

"Let go of me!" she yelled as she struggled. "Where-where are we?!"

He covered her mouth with his hand and motioned her to be quiet.

"We are trapped under the Blue Lion," he stated calmly. "And until the rest come to find us, we are stuck here."

Zeya met his gaze and breathed in deeply. She then closed her eyes as she felt the pain from the side of her head.

"Why did it attack me?"

"You attacked me with a weapon," he said.

"It was protecting you?"

"So it seems," he stated.

She let out her breath as her gaze darted around the darkness. She then let out a gasp as she brought her right arm up to her place against her head.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I thought I heard screaming," she stated. She then looked at the armlet she wore, the red jewel no longer blinking.

Neive followed her gaze as he too looked at it.

"So, you wanna tell me how you ended up with that?" he asked.

"I have no idea," she stated. "Lotor recognized the symbol on it as that of a kingdom that long disappeared here on Arus."

"You know of Mythrias?" he asked.

She looked at him, but slowly nodded. "My mother was from Arus," she stated.

Neive's eyes widened. "Karone?" he asked. "Was your mother's name Karone?"

She nodded. "Princess Karone, of Mythrias," she stated. "She died shortly after I was born."

"That is why you have the armlet," he stated. "You are of one of the royal bloodlines."

"And how does that explain why you wear the same?" she asked.

"My mother is Queen Orla of Helena," he stated.

"You're Allura's cousin?" she asked. "And does Allura wear an armlet as well?"

He nodded.

"You spoke of a sixth lion, what did you mean by that question?"

"The armlets were developed by Princess Allura's mother, Queen Marlena," he stated. "They are supposed to activate a lion ship that she developed."

"There are six lions?" she asked.

"Apparently," he stated. "But Haggar was able to thwart the activation of the last lion, when Zarkon attacked Arus, and splitting Voltron."

Zeya slowly nodded. "It all makes sense now," she stated. "I saw it in my dreams."

"Dreams?"

"When the armlet appeared to me, I was given a vision of a time before," she stated. "And a voice whispered to me."

"What did it say?"

"Child of Arus, --"

"You are the next destiny?"

Zeya looked at him and nodded. "And I saw the Lion, where Queen Marlena had hidden it. It was near here...."

Before she finished, she then breathed in deeply as her eyes widened, she then let out a deafening scream as her body arched against the ground.

"Zeya.."

"No!" she yelled as she breathed deeply. Tears edged at her eyes and all Neive could do was hold her down as she fought whatever demons were now plaguing her.

She let out another scream before fatigue came over her, causing her to fall into a slumber. Neive could only stare down at her, wondering how all that has happened could have brought two greatest enemies together on this small planet.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Vallis ------

Anala stood out on her balcony as she stared across the landscape before her. She breathed in deeply as she held the report she received from Xue in her hands.

"You should have told me."

Anala didn't bother to turn around, but knew that was a question that had haunted her for some time.

"You know why I couldn't," she stated.

Alysson came to stand with her daughter on the balcony and turned her to face her.

"Anala, there is nothing in this world that would make me angry with you," she stated. "Even with all the troubles in the universe, there is nothing that you do that will make me love you even less."

Anala sighed as she met her mother's gaze. "I love him, mother," she stated. "I have for a long time now."

"You know the Galaxy Alliance will want to take him into custody."

"And they will have to kill me to do so," she stated. "If I have to threaten to defect from the Alliance, I will."

"To protect him?" she asked. "To protect someone who has threatened the lives of every planet in the Alliance?"

"To protect the man I love," she stated. "Lotor was only acting under the orders of his father. Doesn't his actions of late reflect on what kind of person he can be?"

Alysson could only take her daughters hands into her own and bring her into a hug. "I just want you to be sure of what you are doing," she stated. "I don't want to see you suffer for something that you will regret."

"I know what I must do," Anala stated as she held her mother. "And if the report that Xue has given me is true, he has nowhere else to go now."

Alysson pulled away. "What about his sister?" she asked.

"Zeya?" Anala asked. "I don't know. I'm sure he would have done everything in his power to make sure she'd have left Doom before he did."

"We must find out where she is," Anala stated as she turned away. "And get to the bottom of what happened to Doom."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Arus ------

Pidge turned on his scanners as he stood before the Blue Lion. Hunk had landed Yellow Lion just off to the side and was preparing the tow cables in case they need to pull the lion ship off the ground.

"I'm detecting two life signs under the right paw," Pidge stated as he looked up at the lion ship. Keith came to stand next to him as they stared up at the lion. "Strange, it's not even reacting to our presence."

"You said two life signs?" Keith asked.

Pidge nodded. "One sign is growing weak however," he stated. "We have to get Blue Lion off the ground."

"Keith!"

He turned around and watched as Allura jumped out of the transport Lance was piloting and ran toward them.

"Where is he?" she asked, a little out of breath.

"Under Blue Lion's paw," Keith stated.

"What?" her eyes widened at the statement. "How can that be?"

"We don't know, but he is not alone," Keith stated. "Pidge picked up another life sign."

Allura could only nod as she turned to her lion ship. She stared up at the Blue Lion, wondering what had happened to cause it to attack its own pilot.

"Let me pilot the lion," she stated.

"I wouldn't advise it, Ally," Pidge stated. "The thermal x-rays show that they are pinned under its paw. Any movement could end up killing them."

"How are we supposed to retrieve them?" Allura asked.

"Find out why Blue Lion would not answer to the signals we've been sending it," Keith stated.

"At least let me get inside the lion to see what happened," Allura asked. "Not so much to move it."

Pidge looked up at the lion then turned to Keith. "It wont hurt to try," he said. "But Ally, please, do not activate it at any cost. Not until we can ascertain just exactly how Neive is situated under there."

Allura nodded. She then breathed in deeply as she approached her lion ship. She knew that the lion would have only reacted if something were threatening its own existence, one aspect of the A.I. that the Voltron Force was quickly learning. However, she couldn't fathom any reason as to why it would attack one of the assigned pilots.

As she slowly neared the lion, a slight sensation started to emanate from her right wrist, and she looked at the armlet she wore. The red jewel started to pulsate and started to blink wildly.

She then heard a low growl emanate from the Lion ship before her and as she looked up, the Blue Lion had lifted its head to stare down at her. It slowly lifted itself onto its back legs, not bothering to remove its right paw from the ground.

"Ally!" Keith yelled.

Allura breathed in deeply, placing her hopes in that the A.I. aboard the ship would recognize her and stand down the lion. The Blue only roared as it then stood, bending its head down as it slowly removed its giant metal paw from the ground. It took a step backward before lying down on the ground again, as if it was back to its normal resting behavior. Allura let out her breath as she then stared in the direction of where Neive was now lying.

"Neive!" she yelled.

She quickly ran over to where her cousin was lying, and then noticed that he was covering another. Her eyes widened when she saw the shock of white hair and blue skin, and then realized that he had been protecting Princess Zeya.

"Neive!"

She quickly fell to her knees beside him and slowly turned him over. His eyes flicker for a moment and a smile touched his features as he looked up at her.

"Next time, remind me to set the parking brake before I leave the lion," he said in a raspy voice.

Allura could only smile as her teammates joined her.

"Hey, its Princess Zeya," Pidge commented.

Keith kneeled down as he pulled the unconscious princess from where she laid. He checked her over and noticed the bruising and the gash on her temple.

"She's breathing," he stated. "Slight concussion on her forehead. How did she end up with you?"

Neive coughed a little as he tried to sit up. He then let out a groan as he felt a sharp pain come from his stomach. He then realized that the knife she had stabbed him with earlier was still hilt deep into his side.

"Neive!" Allura nearly yelled as he doubled over. She then noticed the knife. "We have to get you back to the Castle."

Neive nodded but slowly turned to Keith. "You have to see to her care," he stated. "She's the key we need to find the sixth lion."

"What?" Pidge asked.

"Her mother was Princess Karone."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/---- --/------/

----- The Elyts, Emerald Quadrant ------  
  
Rolsin read over the reports as they displayed on the view screen before him. He then took a sip from the cup near, savoring the tea from his own home planet.

"Sire, we have cataloged all the slaves taken from Planet Doom," a soldier reported as he stood before the commander. "21,984 slaves, from various planets within the system. The Doom Citizens have been given a choice to join us in our battles, or to be sent back to the Drule  
Supremacy to pay for the crimes that Zarkon has done. A majority have agreed to stay on."

"Good work, Gorin," Rolsin stated as he looked at the soldier. "And what of Zarkon's guards?"

"All robot guards have been decommissioned and put into stasis," he reported. "79,542 to be exact. His personal guards have been executed per your orders."

Rolsin smiled. "And what of our esteemed.... guest?"

"He is being held in the lower prison area," he stated. "Risen has assigned our Negators to keep watch. His witch Hagger, escaped before we could capture her."

Rolsin eyed the aging soldier. "Her robeast armies are gone, and with nowhere to go, she will find it difficult to place herself among those that Zarkon has shunned."

"Sire, we also do not know the whereabouts of Prince Lotor nor his sister, Princess Zeya."

Rolsin looked up at him. "Ah, so she does have a name after all," he stated. "We tracked Lotor's escaping ship heading toward the Garnet system. Princess Zeya was probably not on Doom when we attacked.

"Do you want to send out a search party for both of them?"

"No, no," Rolsin stated. "Our main concern right now is any retaliation we may receive from the Drule Supremacy. Even though Zarkon was not in their service, he still provided a good stance against the Alliance in their battles."

"And what of the Alliance?" Gorin asked. "They will be wanting to know what happened to Planet Doom."

"They will be dealt with as soon as the Drule Supremacy is destroyed," he said. "They will pay with their lives for what they've done to our system."

"Understood," Gorin stated. "And this was delivered to me a few moments ago."

Gorin then handed Rolsin a small message capsule.

"What is it?"

"Serif had been monitoring a strange signal that has come and gone over the last few days," Gorin stated. "He was trying to pinpoint where it came from, and then narrowed it just a few hours ago."

"What kind of signal?"

"He doesn't know," Gorin stated. "But he did say that it's communicating on an old Triasian wave length."

"Triasian?"

Gorin nodded. "It was three signals at first, then now it has become only one strong one," he explained. "Source seems to be coming from the Planet Arus in the Azure Quadrant."

"Arus?" Rolsin asked.

"Is anything the matter, sire?"

"No, no, Gorin," he stated. "It just seems that in everything that we do in this system, it all leads back to that little planet."

"I see, sire," Gorin stated. "I can send a scout to check on the planet. Maybe trace the signal?"

Rolsin slowly nodded. "Just a one man ship," he ordered. "Send Siaras."

"Sire, she just lost her two sisters in battle," Gorin stated. "I don't think it is..."

"No, she must learn to act on her own now," Rolsin stated. "Send her to retrieve whatever information from Arus as she can."

"Understood."

"Gorin.."

"Yes sire?"

"Even if she is your daughter, if she fails this time, you must see that she joins her sisters in whatever hell they've gone to," Rolsin stated. "It was her blunder that caused them to die."

"I understand, sire," he stated. "I will report to you when she has left for Arus."

"You're dismissed, Gorin."

Rolsin watched as the old soldier left his command area and noted that Gorin, even though a long time soldier, who had served in his father's army, would be one to watch closely. He then placed the message capsule in a small slot in the computer he fronted and watched as it displayed some notes on the signal that they intercepted.

--What is with this Planet Arus that has tied us all together?-- he thought to himself.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Vallis ------

Anala played with the small message capsule as she stared out of the window in her study. She held little Reece in her arms as she rocked silently. He was sleeping soundly in her arms, not a care as to the tragedy that has befallen his father.

"You have to tell them, now," Graig stated as he came to stand near her. "Have you even bothered to read what is in that capsule?"

Anala slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid of what it will say," she stated. "What if the force that destroyed Doom was to come here?"

"We have the backing of the Alliance," Graig stated. "We have trained soldiers, the weapons left behind by Kellar have been updated and your people are ready for anything. Anala, you must do what you can to rally the Alliance together to find out what happened."

Anala could only stare down at the child she held. "I just hope that all we had to fight for to rid of Kellar, wasn't all for nothing," she stated as she stood from her chair, cradling her child in her arms. "To finally have our people free, to only be threatened by a much stronger force."

"You will have to fight your own inner demons if you are going to find the strength needed to fight whatever is looming over this universe," Graig stated as he approached her. "You must contact your brother; tell him the truth."

"If you want to defeat the force that threatens us now, you must listen to him."

Graig and Anala both turned to the door of her study. Their two cloaked strangers stood, with Alysson standing behind them.

"Mom?" Anala asked as she stepped toward them.

"It's alright, Anala," Alysson stated.

The two strangers then lowered the hoods of their cloaks and Anala's eyes widened.

"Lemille?" she asked. "Sendrre?"

"We have come to provide information...and guidance," Lemille stated. "For you will be up against a force with unimaginable strength."

"What are we up against, Lemille?" Anala asked. "And how do you know?"

"It was Ylren who foretold of the coming of the Triasians, many years ago," Lemille stated with a smile. "He continues to watch over us, young queen, and now, we are fulfilling our promise to serve him."

"But, he is gone," Anala stated.

"He is and will always be with us, Queen Anala," Lemille stated.

"Anala!"

Anala looked passed Lemille to see Xue enter the study. He bowed to both Lemille and Sendrre before approaching her.

"Doctor Eleis has asked for your presence in the infirmary," he stated. "Lotor is coming around."

Anala slowly nodded as she walked over to her mother. She then handed Reece over to her before leaving the room with Xue. Alysson turned to Lemille as she held the child in her arms.

"We must contact the Voltron Force and your Galaxy Alliance," Lemille stated to the former princess. "Time is short, and we must prepare them all for the coming of the Triasians."

"Who are the Triasians?" Alysson asked.

"A force that even the Drule Empire cannot win against."


	8. Chapter 8

########################################################################  
A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
########################################################################

----------------  
Chapter 8  
----------------

----- Planet Arus ------

Neive studied the pages before him, as the computer continued to parse the phrases he had instructed it to look for. Shane was busy next to him, compiling what he couldn't understand.

"You know, this new lion is supposed to be some kind of armoring, for Voltron?" Shane asked. "I still can't figure out how it'll work."

"That's where you and Teri can work with Hunk and Pidge to figure out," Neive stated.

Shane then came up to him as he laid down a few papers of translated diagrams.

"Look here," Shane stated. "According to this, it was the first lion ship they built, but was not able to test due to problems with it's A.I. Queen Marlena was the only one working on it as the rest of the engineers were working to create the other 5 lions, this time with a simpler A.I. and without the need for three people to run each lion."

"Could it be the proto-type that she referred to in her earlier diaries?" Neive asked as he leaned forward.

"No, its not," Shane stated. "She doesn't refer to it specifically, but she did make mention of something that she had found and learning from that, she was able to create a prototype, offer it to the engineers, and had the authority from Alfor to start creating a defense system, unrivaled by any in the galaxy."

"Found?" Neive asked. "What is it that she found that would make her devote all this energy into developing a defense system like Voltron?"

Shane shrugged. "If we can find whatever this object she wrote about," Shane started, "maybe we can find out that reason. In the mean-time, we do have to figure out where this sixth lion was stashed, and why it was."

Neive nodded as he breathed in deeply. His gaze then traveled to the metal armlet he wore and he touched it.

"We've found the last heir to Arus' royalty," Neive stated. "And maybe a new ally."

Shane looked to Neive, wondering what he meant by that comment.

"Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer," Shane stated as he went back to his diagrams.

Neive turned to him but dismissed his comment. His hand then went to his side to touch the bandages that covered his stab wound, given to him when Zeya attacked him. "Keep them very close."

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Vallis ------

Anala slowly closed the curtain in the small infirmary room. It was now long past sunset, the palace was now quiet, save for some of the maintenance workers and servants who went about their late night duties. She left it parted a little, to let whatever moonlight to filter in. A small lamp lit up the room in its corner, but kept it dark enough so that she would not bother the sleeping form in the bed.

She breathed in deeply as she walked back toward the bed and took a seat in the nearby chair.

Lotor had come around earlier that day, but was still delusional. Doctor Eleis had to administer another sedative to see that he got the rest he needed. She took one of his hands into her own as she held it close to her. She closed her eyes as she brought his hand to her lips and softly kissed it.

"I have to tell them," she whispered. She slowly opened her eyes and looked over his sleeping form. "I know that there will be difficulties, but they must know. They must know in order to find away to defeat those that now threaten all of us."

She let out a soft sigh as she leaned to rest her arms on the edge of the bed. She closed her eyes, pondering what she could do to find out what was going on.

"Anala?"

Her name was barely said above a whisper. She slowly opened her eyes to meet the gaze of his. Tears edged at her eyes as she leaned over to him.

"You're alright?" she asked.

Lotor swallowed hard as he looked around the room he was in. Anala slowly stood up as she stopped him from sitting up.

"No," she stated. "You have two broken ribs. We've already mended them, but you must rest."

"Where's Zeya?" he asked.

"We don't know," she stated. "Lotor, what happened?"

He closed his eyes at that moment as whatever horrors he had experienced seemed to reflect in his expression.

"They came in undetected," he stated. "Even Haggar didn't have to time to react."

"Who?"

"My father was tracking them--," he then turned to her. "Where is my father?"

Anala could only shake her head. "Lotor, Planet Doom.." She started. She averted her gaze at that moment. "Planet Doom is no longer present in this system."

Surprise filled his expression as he tried to sit up again. Anala was quick to hold him at bay as she seated herself on the edge of the bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever force attacked Planet Doom, it somehow was able to destroy it too," she said. "Reports from the Emerald Quadrant confirm this."

"That's impossible."

Anala could only shake her head. "The people who attacked you," she started. "Were they called Triasians?"

Lotor slowly nodded. "We had been following their progress for the last 10 months," he stated. "They've been mainly targeting outlying Drule planets, and nearing the Emerald System."

Anala slowly nodded. "And Planet Doom was one of the last few that they could target?"

Lotor slowly nodded then gasped when he moved a little. Anala immediately reacted to his pain.

"They are a strong force," he said. "We were bombarded by over 50,000 of their troops."

"What happened to you?"

"I was in the process of escorting a garrison of my father's personal guards to an awaiting ship when a trio of armored soldiers appeared," he said. "This one, in red. It seems that he was the one leading the attack."

"What did he look like?"

Lotor shrugged. "They wore complete full armor," he said. "To protect my father, I confronted the soldier in red. I quickly realized that I was no match for him."

"No match?" Anala asked. She knew of Lotor's prowess in the arena's on Doom. And the confrontations with her brother, she knew that they were evenly matched as skills go. If Lotor couldn't best one of their soldiers in man to man combat, what would that mean for the rest of the soldiers of the attacking forces?

"He possessed and unusual skill in fighting," he stated. "Strength, intellect. I could see it in the moves he executed. He nearly killed me, weren't for Haggar intervening."

"What is in that message capsule you gave me?" she asked.

"Its filled with the reports we received over the last few months," he stated as he met her gaze. "Reports that can help in determining in how to defeat them."

Anala slowly nodded. "If they are able to destroy and entire planet, we are going to need all the information we can get," she stated. "You must rest. I will speak with Xue on this and present this to both Lemille and Sendrre."

As Anala was about to stand, she felt him grab for her hand.

"You will have to let the Voltron Force know," he stated as he looked up at her. "Their next target will be Arus."

Anala could only nod. Then she turned back toward him, before leaning over and kissing him. "Please rest," she whispered as she pulled away. "You have already lost your home planet. I have several matters to deal with so that you can remain here on Vallis."

"You know they will try everything in their power to take me," he stated.

"They will have to kill me to do so," she stated. "Get some rest."

Anala slowly pulled away from him as she then turned to leave the small infirmary. Lotor could only stare after her as the door slowly closed behind her.

-----/-----/-----/-----/------/------/------/------/-----/-----/-------/------/------/------/------/------/-----/------/------/------/------/------/

----- Planet Arus ------

Zeya slowly opened her eyes, as a bright blur filled her vision. She closed her eyes again as she furrowed her brows, then shook her head. She opened them again to then see a small lamp over her.

She slowly sat up, clutching at the blanket that covered her. She looked around as her vision slowly adjusted to the light, and soon, the blurriness cleared.

"Princess Zeya?"

She looked quickly to her left and saw a man with a graying beard approach her. She shifted herself as he approached her.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in the infirmary wing in the Castle of Lions," the man said as he pulled out a pen-light from his front pocket.

She didn't pull away as he shined the light into her eyes.

"That head injury put you out for a couple of days," he stated as he then felt her wrist for her pulse. "Honestly, I haven't had a Drule patient in a while, so we didn't know how normal it was. Though, according to what we have on record, your vitals are strong and normal. I stitched up that gash that was above your right eye, so that should heal. There will be a slight scar, but if you take care, it will fade over time."

"How did I end up here?" she asked. "I don't..."

"The Voltron Force brought you in after they rescued you and Commander Neive from under Blue Lion," he stated.

"Neive?" she asked. "That man?"

The man nodded. "He was adamant to make sure you were taken cared of, princess," he stated. "If it weren't for his duties, Im sure he would have been here to watch over you."

"I must leave," Zeya stated as she threw off the blanket. The man reacted as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, but hadn't realized that she had no clothes on.

"Princess, I do not recommend that you do anything strenuous," he stated as he quickly grabbed for a robe.

When he turned, he saw that she had taken the blanket with her and was leaning against the doorframe that lead into the main hallway.

"Princess!" he yelled as he followed her out into the hallway and she made her way down.

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Neive slowly walked down the hallways of the Castle as he made his way to the infirmary wing. He had just delivered his reports to Keith on their findings over the diaries, but still not able to locate the elusive sixth lion.

"Neive!"

Neive turned as Shane joined him, carrying with him a small piece of paper.

"Look at this," Shane stated as they continued walking down the hall.

Neive looked over the paper, written in Arusian. "This is not Queen Marlena's handwriting," he immediately stated.

"I saw that too," he stated. "It was in one of the final diaries, behind the jacket cover. So I don't think it was written as part of the diary, but put there by someone else."

Neive read over the quickly written words. His expression then turned to one of regret. "It was written by King Alfor," he stated. "Just stating that they were to demonstrate the Lion ships on their inaugural flight."

Shane seemed a little disappointed at the revelation. "I thought it would lead us to the lion," he stated.

Neive could only smile. "Don't worry, we'll find where its located," Neive stated.

As they rounded a corner, Neive let out a gasp as he walked right into someone else. Whoever it was fell against the wall and slid down to the cold floor as a white sheet blanket went flying.

"Commander!"

Neive looked down the hallway and saw Dr. Gorma approaching them, carrying a robe with him. Neive then looked down to see that it was Princess Zeya, who was now clutching the blanket against herself.

"Zeya?"

Dr. Gorma quickly approached them both as he kneeled and brought the robe to cover her.

"Princess, please you must return to the infirmary," Dr. Gorma stated.

Zeya looked around and her gaze then fell onto the Neive who was kneeled next to the doctor. She slowly reached out to him.

"You," she stated.

"Princess Zeya, we have to get you back to the infirmary," Dr. Gorma stated.

"No, wait, doctor," Neive stated. "Zeya, do you remember what happened?"

Though as if she just woke out of a dream, her expression changed as she looked at him.

"You!" she nearly yelled. She frantically looked around as she pulled the blanket tighter around her. "Where am I? What am I doing here?"

Neive slowly reached to her but she quickly slapped his hands away.

"You are in the Castle of Lions, princess Zeya," Shane came to say. "You have been in a coma for two days."

Zeya looked at the young boy then turned to the young man before her. "How did I end up here?"

"We were trapped under Blue Lion, when you attacked me near the ruins of Mythrias," he stated. "You were looking for something that I too was looking for."

Zeya closed her eyes as she tried to remember. It all came back to her, remembering hitting her head when the Lion attacked. She then recalled feeling a sense of dread as if a part of her conscience was suddenly ripped from her.

"Where's my father?" she asked. "Where's Lotor?"

Neive could only turn to Shane, but then turned back to her. "Planet Doom is no longer, princess," he calmly stated. "We haven't heard from either your brother or your father on their whereabouts."

Surprise came over the young princess as she breathed in deeply. "Triasians."

"Excuse me?"

"That's what my father was expecting," she said as she turned to him. "Triasians."

"What are Triasians?"

"I have to find my brother," she said. She started to push herself up from the ground but could not find the strength.

"First lets get you something decent to wear, princess," Doctor Gorma stated as he reached to her and slowly helped her to feet. He pulled the robe tighter around her and tied the belts together. "Let me run some tests, and when you have your strength, we can help you to locate your brother."

Zeya could only nod as she was led by the doctor down the hallway they had come from. She turned her head to look over her shoulder as her gaze came to rest on the young man she had been trapped with.

"Want me to find out about these, triasians?" Shane asked.

He looked up at Neive who was staring down the hallway as Gorma led the young princess back to the infirmary.

"Neive?"

Neive turned to him.

"Want me to find out about these Triasians?" he asked.

"Yeah, do that," he stated. "And report to Keith on your findings."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Im going to find Kit," he stated. "Contact me when you have found an answer."

"I will," Shane stated.

He slowly shook his head as he watched his teammate walk down the hallway leading to the residence wing.

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----- The Elyts, Emerald Quadrant ------

Siaras watched as her father paced before her.

"I do not like what Rolsin is asking you to do," he said as he came to stand before her.

"He is our commander," she stated simply. "We have to follow his orders."

"It was his orders that caused you and your sisters to get into trouble."

"It was my bad decision that got them killed," she stated.

Gorin could only shake his head. He then walked up to her, placing his arms around her. "I don't want to lose you, but if you fail this time, he plans to have you killed."

Siaras could only nod. "Then I will have to my best."

Gorin could only hold her tighter in his arms as he took her into a hug.

"No, you will not be subjected to his tyranny."

Siaras quickly pulled away.

"You speak of treason," she said surprised.

"No, I speak the truth," he stated. "Listen, you will go to Arus as ordered. You will then signal for help."

"If I call for help, Rolsin will see it as a sign of failure.."

"If the resistance is going to have any leeway in stopping Rolsin and his brothers, in the name of Triasus, we will have to stop them cold."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Land on Arus, do what you need to do," Gorin stated. "Find out about this Voltron Force. Then when you are ready, signal Rolsin. I will accompany him and his brothers, and I will send a distress signal to The Voltron Force. They will come to investigate, and at that time, we can see to making sure, Rolsin will not be able to return to the Elyts."

"What about the others in his command?"

"There is enough of us on this ship to take care of whatever forces to stop them," he stated. "And Im sure we can rally whatever forces we've captured so far to work with us."

Siaras slowly nodded. Gorin then placed a small item in the palm of her hand and folded her fingers over it.

"Should you be captures by the Voltron Force for any reason, please give them this."

She slowly opened her hand and saw that it was a small message disc. "What is it?"

"It's the schematics to a machine that was lost to us many years ago," he stated. "It's the only thing that will help them defeat whatever force Rolsin sends against them."

Siara nodded as she closed her hand and nodded. "I will signal for you in 2 Arusian days," she stated. "Prepare whatever you need by then."

"I will," he stated. He hugged her again before releasing her. "Go, before Rolsin wonders why you haven't left on your mission."

She could only agree before turning to head toward the fighter bays. Gorin swallowed hard as he stared after her.

He knew he was taking a gamble by defying Rolsin and his brothers. But he knew deep down that if there was no way to stop Rolsin and tyrannical conquering of the systems, no one, would be able to stop them.


	9. Chapter 9

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com  
Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions  
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Chapter 9  
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±±±±±±±± The Elyts, Emerald Quadrant ±±±±±±±±

Rolsin looked over the reports sent into him from his commanders over the raid and destruction of Planet Doom. He was dismayed however, to have had Prince Lotor so close yet the Drule prince was able to escape. As he read over the reports, he knew however, that Lotor would have nothing left in this part of the galaxy. All he cared was that Zarkon was now his prisoner and the last few planets within the Drule Empire would slowly fall to them. Only time was in the way.

The door to his study then beeped and he immediately let whomever was outside in. He smiled when he saw that it was Gorin.

"Siaras is on her way to Plane Arus," he immediately reported. "She should arrive there in a day's time."

"Good," Rolsin stated. "Any word on the location of Prince Lotor and his sister?"

Gorin slowly shook his head. "The ship he was traveling in was equipped with some sort of cloaking device," he stated. "We lost him when he crossed in the Cerulean Quadrant."

"Well, he has no where to go, and Im sure there are many planets out there who have a bounty on his head," Rolsin stated. "Even the Drule Empire will have nothing to do with him, because of his father."

"And what of Princess Zeya?"

"I still want her brought to me alive," Rolsin stated.

"I will see to it that once she's found, she will be brought to you," Gorin stated.

"Good," Rolsin replied. "In the meantime, keep watch over any communications being sent toward or from the Drule Empire; I want to be notified at once if Lotor or Zeya show themselves."

"And what do you want to do with King Zarkon?"

"Oh, I think he will be most useful us alive than brought back to Triasus," Rolsin stated. "Though, his witch may try to work her way into trying to free him; make sure your men are aware of the dark powers she possesses."

"I'll speak with my men later today," he said. "If that is all."

"Yes," Rolsin stated. "Just alert me when Siaras send her call."

"I will," Gorin stated.

With that, the older man bowed, before turning on his heel and heading toward the door. Rolsin took a deep breath before leaning back in his chair.

"Gorin comes from the old ways, brother."

He looked across the room to see his brother Risen standing at the windows.

"And with that, he has a vast knowledge of warfare," Rolsin stated.

"Forcing him to send his daughters and have two of them killed over faulty information," Risen commented. "I find it odd that he isn't at all bitter about it."

"He knows that Siaras was wholly to blame for the death of her sisters," Rolsin stated. "I trust Gorin, more than I trust you, Risen."

Risen could only smile. "Tasia has more to report over her findings about the Princess of Arus," he stated. "Something that you will find interesting."

"Oh?" Rolsin asked.

"She is waiting for you in her study."

"Then, we will have to see what it is she has found."

Rolsin slowly stood and with that, followed his brother out of his study.

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±±±±±±±± Planet Arus ±±±±±±±±

Katherine breathed in deeply as she stood, defensive stance as her teammates surrounded her. She quickly eyed them, making quick notes about their stance and how they were breathing. If one made a move, her attention quickly switched to them.

"Now!"

On cue, her teammates then attacked her one bye one as she set herself to defend against their attacks. She was quick to disarm Shane who came at her from behind, throwing him over her shoulder as LiAnne was quick to pick up his fallen weapon and come at her. By that time Teri was already aiming to knock her down by making a grab of her legs, but she was quick to move out of the way as he dove to the ground instead. With that move, she was ready for LiAnne and quickly disarmed her and flipped over her to bring her arm around her back to subdue her. However, she misanticipated Neive's move as he was quick to grab her by her waist and tackle her to the ground, pinning her arms beneath his knees as he forced her head to the ground.

"Kit!"

The two teammates looked up as Keith and Lance approached them. Keith waved his hands as Neive slowly got up off of Kit as she let out a groan into the soft map she laid upon. Keith squatted down before her as she pushed herself to turn over and lie on her back.

"You do know what you did wrong, right?" he asked.

She slowly nodded. "I wasn't keeping track of everyone's movements," she stated. "Missed Neive as he took the opportunity in the confusion to take me down."

"Otherwise good job, but work on that for the next session."

Kit slowly nodded as she pulled herself up to her feet.

"I know all of you are tired from the recent extensions of your combat training," Keith said as he turned to the Beta team. "But we must prepare ourselves for whatever force now threatens this part of the galaxy. I know that we have not been targeted, but if whatever force is keen on destroying the Drule Empire, they may even consider that Galaxy Alliance a threat. We must be ready for any confrontation we may encounter."

He turned to Lance and then turned to the team. "Lion practice will be at 14:00 hours, use this time to rest."

"Yes, sir!"

Keith and Lance quickly exchanged looks as the team slowly walked out of Rec Room 12.

"Neive, would you mind staying back," Lance asked.

The rest of the Beta team slowly left the room as Neive stood before the two original members.

"Is there something you wanted to see me about?"

Keith turned to Lance. "I will take it from here," he told Lance. "Alert me if you hear from any planets concerning the Triasians movements."

Lance nodded before he quietly left the rec room.

"Your uncle contacted Allura yesterday," Keith started. He watched as Neive's expression changed for a moment, but decided to continue. "He wants you to resign your position here with us and return to Helena."

"What did Allura say?"

Keith looked at him. "Look, Neive, I told her flat out to deny that request," Keith stated. "I know your feelings on your status with Helena, and I reminded Allura that your duty is to the Galaxy Alliance, since you trained to become an officer. Since Altaire is the controlling kingdom, he cannot demand anything of you."

Neive let out a sigh. "Im sorry for having him put you into a situation that we've already discussed a million times over," Neive stated.

"My Uncle still believes that Alfor should have nevered married Marlena."

"Understandable," Keith stated. "You are excused from Lion Practice today, so you can finish up on the translations. The sooner we can find this sixth lion ship, the better. The situation with these Triasians are making me uncomfortable, and I want to be sure that we are ready, should they decide to take an interest in us."

"Understood," Neive stated. "And what of Princess Zeya?"

Keith looked at him. "She is under house arrest, for the time being," he answered. "Since she is the last key to finding this ship, we can't let her out of our site."

"And what of Lotor? He may come looking for her."

"We will deal with him should he appear on Arus," Keith stated. "Neive, is there anything you want to talk about?"

Neive shook his head. "No, just that everything that is happening now, it seems as if someone had planned this from the start," he said. "Like how Alfor built Voltron on the urging from Queen Marlena. And she only pushed for it to happen because of something she witnessed or saw."

"And you think that whatever it is that she saw is behind the development?"

Neive slowly nodded. "What ever this sixth lion is, I think its what started it all."

Keith nodded. "Be sure to bring this up with your mother as well as Allura," he stated. "They may have some more insight into what Marlena was up to during that time."

"I will."

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Allura slowly waved her hand in front of the panel on the side of the room she stood before. Behind her, Princess Zeya, Hunk and two of her castle guards stood. The five then entered the dark room and the light slowly came on.

"You will be staying here, till Dr. Gorma says he feels that you are fully healed from your ordeal," Allura stated as she entered. She then turned to Zeya as she walked into the room. Hunk followed in behind her as the two guards stayed by the door.

"You are welcome to go about the castle to any non-security area," Allura continued. "But you will not be allowed to leave the perimeter of the castle, beyond the moat surrounding us."

Zeya slowly nodded as she looked around. It was definitely not anything like her quarters on Doom, it was brighter, a different type of feeling enveloped her. There was a moderately sized bed toward one end, and on the other, a comfort area, with a small couch and table. Through a different door, she could see a nice bath area.

"If you need anything, the castle servants are available to you from 5 am to 11 pm at night," Allura stated. "As you know, we will probably have you questioned about any knowledge you have about the force that destroyed Planet Doom. And we will do everything in our power to help you locate your brother."

Zeya then turned to her. "He will come here," she stated. "He will come here."

Allura could only look at her. She waved her hand and Hunk slowly approached her.

"These have been approved by Coran," he stated as he handed her a small armlet.

"Since you will be staying here, we do have to take precautions," Allura stated. "I have alerted the Galaxy Alliance Command that you are our guest here, but they were adamant on making sure that you are secured. As I dont believe in imprisoning someone for just being associated with King Zarkon, without due cause, I must request that you wear this while you are here."

Zeya turned to her seeing the small armlet Allura was holding. "You know your little devices are simple for me to overcome," she stated.

"Yes, I belive they would be non consequential to you," Allura stated.

"But you have seen to my care, so I will oblige you," she stated. "Though, now that I have nowhere to go, Princess Allura, I do wish to extend a request to you."

"That is?"

"Asylum, here on Arus."

Allura turned to Hunk and handed him back the armlet. "Your request shall be taken under consideration," Allura said. "On the condition that you help us with our own tasks, and any information you have on these Triasians."

"I will give you as much as I know," Zeya stated.

"Then I will leave you so you can rest," Allura stated.

"Princess?"

"Yes?"

Zeya turned to face the window. "Tell your cousin, that I'm sorry."

"And.."

"Yes?"

Zeya turned to her again. "If he is having trouble translating the last journal left by your mother, that he should reverse his thinking," she stated. "The answer he is looking for will come to him then."

Allura nodded again. "I will see to it that he gets that message," Allura stated. "For now, I bid you goodnight."

Zeya watched as she and the one called Hunk turn and leave. The door closed silently behind them. She immediately went up to the door to turn down the lights. She wanted the dark. She nearly found herslef craving for it.

She looked around the room when the lights were dimmed. She made her way to the bed and collapsed on it. Was it true? She found herself now questioning what was going to be her future. Why were her sworn enemy treat her the way they are now?

She closed her eyes reliving the images that had flooded her mind. The visions that haunted her since that day; the day she knew that Doom was no more. She now had to seek refuge with her enemy. And they were treating her as if she was only a guest. A closely guarded guest.

She then looked at the armlet she was wearing. The strange silver band that appeared on her only a week ago. And the young man, Neive, was also wearing it. And Allura. And of course, who her mother was.

So many revelations. She felt exhausted. Though the only thing she could find herself dwelling on was the look that the young man had shown, when they were trapped under the Blue Lion.

She breathed in deeply, feeling her body begin to relax. The Castle of Lions was silent, and she could feel herself succumb to the quiet around her, for a much needed and restful sleep.

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Siarras eyed the Castle of Lions, making note of the amount of guards surround its perimeter. It was already late, and she knew that only a few guards would be on duty, and the perimeter scanners would be only watched by 1 or 2 people.

She quietly made her way toward the Castle, hiding within the shadows and staying as lightfooted as possible. As she approached the moat and the long bridge that led toward the castle's entrance, she instead went down the bank and pulled out two devices from the hip sack she wore.

It allowed her to attached something to the underside of the bridge and made her way across, being unnoticed by sensors and the three guards at the entrance.

Once she reached the other side, she made her way toward the side of the castle. Again, using the device that got her across the bridge unnoticed, she then used it as she climbed up the side of the castle. She eyed an opening near the top and decided that she would infiltrate the castle that way.

Once she reached the ledge, she stepped quietly onto it and studied the window. She knew that they were made of some of the strongest glass, and sensors lined it. She only smiled to herself as she felt along the edge of the glass and closed her eyes. Her hand lightly rubbed on a corner and she could feel what she was looking for. She pulled out another small cylindrical device from her hip sack. She placed it against the glass and slowly slid it between the glass and the outside wall. With it, she pushed it in lightly and soon the glass window slid open.

Once it opened she quietly entered the room and slowly looked around. It was a bedroom and as her vision adjusted, she realized that she was not alone.

The window slid close when she pulled the cylindrical device out. She slowly made her way toward the door, hoping she would not disturb the individual who was sleeping.

Suddenly, the light in the room came on. Siarras let out a gasp as she quickly turned around and saw a young man, standing before her.

"Now, who on Arus are you and how did you get in here?" Pidge asked as he aimed his pistol at her.

Siarras could only smile as she turned toward him. She quickly reacted, pressing a button on the arm band she wore. Pidge let out a gasp as she started toward him and some kind of armoring came up to surround her.

He fired one shot, but it was deflected of whatever she was now wearing. He quickly jumped out of her way as she lunged out at him. He then ran toward his door to try and trip the alarm, but she through something at him, which he ducked. It destroyed the panel to his door, as he stood again and aimed his pistol at her.

"Well now, it seems you're the unfriendly type," he stated.

The woman attacked him again and this time he jumped over her to grab for the communicator that was lying near his bed. He quickly turned it on, knowing that it would send out a signal to whomever was on duty.

"Now, we can do this the easy way," Pidge stated as he stared at her. "Or we can do it the hard way."

The woman decided to lunge at him again, but found herself being tackled to the ground. Pidge immediately ran over to her, seeing the armband she had touched. He quickly pulled it off of her and the armoring that covered her, now disappeared.

"Good timing, Hunk," Pidge stated as his big friend pulled the girl up to her feet.

"I was only down the hall doing my rounds when I got the signal," Hunk stated and then looked down at the woman he held. "Now, Pidge, what did we say about late nite visits?"

Pidge only smirked. "Hey, if I wanted someone to kill me, I would just have marched right into Haggar's robeast pit," he stated. "So, lady, who are you?"

The woman only smiled. "If you want to know, then you will have to let me go."

"So you speak english?" Pidge asked. "Now that we know you have something to say, we'll just let Allura decide on when to let you go."

Pidge nodded as Hunk pulled her through the door.

"I'll take her down to the holding cells below," Hunk stated. "You go ahead and wake up the captain. Let him know we have an intruder."

"Just what we need," Pidge stated. "With Zeya appearing on Arus, and now this woman. He's gonna have a fun morning."

Hunk could only nod. "So you got a name miss?"

"Siarras," she stated as she turned her head to him. "Of Triasus."

Pidge's eyes widened. "As in those who just destroyed Planet Doom?"

She looked toward the young man. "As in, we are about to take on the Galaxy Alliance."

"Okay, time to go." Hunk stated as he pulled her and then escorted her down the hall. Pidge immediately went toward Keith's quarters, wondering how he would react to this news.

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Anala stared up at the marker for her grandfather's grave and placed a small bouquet upon the mantle. She closed her eyes and made a silent prayer. Alysson slowly placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"He was a great leader," Alysson stated. "And now, the fate of the universe lies with what we know."

"I have to go to Arus," Anala stated. "To warn them of what this force is capable of."

"Then you will have to tell them the truth," Alysson stated. "If you truly love him, you will have to tell them."

"I will let them know everything," she stated. "You will have to look after Reece."

"I will," Alysson stated. "Last reports show the Triasian Ship is on a direct course for Arus. Its traveling at a moderate speed, but Im sure, the reason is to find Lotor and Zeya. It seems Zeya had appeared on Arus, prior to the attack on Doom."

"Then I have to take Sendrre and Lemille to Arus," Anala stated.

"You will need this."

Alysson walked over the mantle and pushed aside a small stone. Behind the grave marker, the stone wall slid open. Anala walked over to her mother as she pulled out a small box.

"This was given to your grandfather when he was a young man," she stated. "He was a formidable opponent when in battle because of this. Im sure he would like you to have it."

"What is it?"

"Its a type of retractable armor," Alysson stated. "Courtesy of our Triasian friends."

"What?"

Alysson slowly nodded. "Before the Triasians were hellbent on conquering, they were a peaceful and well advanced race; they sent a dignitary here when your grandfather was a young man, and as a gift gave these to him," she explained. "Then we cut all ties to them when Kelar came into power because we were able to learn much from the technology to create this."

"I see," Anala stated.

"Anala, you must be careful," she said. "The Triasians are mysterious, but they are also one of the strongest fighting force you will encounter. These should be helpful to both you and Lotor. Protect each other."

"I will," Anala stated. "Do we have more of these?"

"The third is for your brother," Alysson stated as she closed the small case. "Just wear it on your arm, and press the gold button when needed. When the armor appears, it will be painful as it adheres directly to you; but it has the strength of 5 inch steel."

"I understand."

"Be careful."

"If anything should happen..."

Alysson slowly nodded. "Make sure nothing does."

Anala hugged her mother tightly before taking the case from her and returning to the Castle. Alysson looked toward her father's grave marker and made a silent prayer. She hoped that he would watch over her.


	10. Chapter 10

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Neive let out a sigh as he looked over the last journal for the tenth time that evening. No matter how he looked at it, he just could not identify any pattern in the writings. Queen Marlena definitely did not use the same coding she had in her previous journals. And the clue that Allura had given him, care of Princess Zeya was not helping him at all.

He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in the small office he was in. After having Princess Zeya arrive and the sudden appearance of a Triasian soldier who nearly killed Pidge, the control room was now overrun with security and of course, the many cross communications that Coran and Princess Allura had to field with questions from every ambassador and leader of the Galaxy Alliance. Not to mention, the multi-reports that needed to be filed, since Princess Zeya had asked for asylum.

Asylum.

He was sure that the Galaxy Alliance would be wary about granting the daughter of one of the Drule Empires notorious leaders any leniency, but she would be a key to obtaining Prince Lotor. Which he figured would be their motive behind any granting of such request. Or maybe a direct tie to capturing King Zarkon himself.

"What part of 'you should reverse your thinking', did you not understand?"

The voice caught him off guard as he quickly stood and turned to the small door that was now open. Zeya was leaning against the side of the door frame as she stood in the open door. He saw two of the casle's guards standing behind her. With a wave from him, they saluted and stayed just outside the door as she walked into the small room; the door sliding close behind her.

"And didn't anyone teach you to knock?" Neive asked, a little irritated. "Why are you here?"

Zeya crossed her arms as she entered the small office. She looked around noting the disarray of books and papers, and the two computer screens that sat on the desk he had been sitting at.

"So, while the others are out having fun, you're pushing the books?" she asked.

"I'm busy looking for clues that were left behind by Allura's mother," Neive stated. He then took his seat again as he tried to get back to what he was doing. "And if you don't mind, I have to try and figure this out."

She only smiled as she walked toward him, taking note of the open journal sitting on the desk before him. She came to stand next to him as she stared at the two screens with translated phrases displayed.

"Some of these look familiar," she stated.

Neive only breathed in deeply. Ever since their encounter nearly 4 days ago, the young princess had left an impression on him that he couldn't shake. He moved slightly in his chair as she leaned over to look at the journal before him. Her hair cascaded down, lightly brushing his hand.

"This is Arusian?" she asked.

Neive slowly nodded as he pushed himself in his chair away from her. "Yes," he stated. "Its hardly spoken now, but it was the language used here not too long ago."

She turned to him reading his expression as he looked at her. "And do any of your people still understand this language?"

"My mother's kingdom still practice its use," Neive stated as he turned away from her.

"I see," she stated. "Do you think my mother was fluent in this language?"

Neive could only shrug. "All royalty were pretty much schooled in the language," he stated.

Zeya studied him for a moment, seeing that her presence was somehow affecting him. She smiled to herself as she walked away from his side, to stand behind him, leaning her head down over his shoulder.

"Do I bother you?" she nearly whispered to him.

Neive could only breathe. "You're interrupting my concentration."

"Interrupting?" she asked as she looked down at the journal before him. "It looks as if you haven't done much with this tattered old thing."

"Look, if you are just here to cause trouble, please leave," Neive stated. "I have work to do."

Zeya smiled as she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. At her sudden touch, she felt him stiffen. This only caused her to smile even more as she played this out for her amusement. She moved to his side, as she let her hand rub along his back, to then rest on his shoulder opposite her as she leaned to look at the open journal. She could feel him tense up at her touch.

"This belonged to Allura's mother?" she asked. She didn't wait to hear his answer. "She wrote beautifully. Judging by her writing, she was definitely an educated individual, although, these seem to have been written in haste, judging by the other writings you have displayed here.

"How long ago did she write this?" she asked.

"Just before she died," Neive managed to say as he tried to move himself away from her.

Zeya smiled to herself, feeling him struggle between keeping his resolve and being close to her. "Did you take my suggestion into consideration?"

She then turned her head to him, as his blue eyes met hers. "I had no idea what your suggestion meant," he stated.

She smiled as she turned her back to the desk and leaned against it, removing her hand from his shoulder and placing it on the journal. "Reverse your thinking," she stated. "I trust that you ran an algorithm to decipher her earlier Journals," she said. "But this one, it was written well after the first right?"

Neive looked at her. "How did you know?"

"The writing style is much more defined, in this journal, than those you have here," she said point at the two screens before him.

"They don't teach you much on reading people do they at that Galaxy Alliance academy, do they?"

"Its not something they push on the recruits," he stated.

She smiled. "You can learn about person by their actions and behaviours, but they can easily hide what they are truly feeling or who they really are," she said. "That is, until you see what they write, or how they write."

She quickly turned around to the journal before her and pointed out several phrases, and had the two screens pick out similar ones from passages from the earlier journals.

"Here, she has written the same words, almost the same, indicative that she wrote these around the same time," she stated. "But in this journal, notice how the the same word is much stronger, and less decorative. Means that she has dropped the nicessities, and opted to write in a more dedicated and fastidious fashion."

"Which means?"

"Which means she or something was bothering her in this time of her life," she stated. "She used a simple coding algorithm to hide clues within the earlier journals, but in this, she needed to hide her clues a different way. Protecting a secret she knew that would be harmful if fallen into the wrong hands."

"Block lettering," he stated. "Indicative of someone who is in power, or has something to hide."

"Or to make it clear to someone who would know her coding, on what words to make sure to catch to find her clues," she stated. "And from remembering some of the Arusian I learned..."

She quickly scanned the journal before her, and picked up on a few words and phrases that caught her attention.

"Senerd," she said. "What does this mean?"

"Duty," he translated.

She nodded. "But what does Drenes mean?"

Neive could only meet her gaze as he suddenly realized what her previous clue had meant. Certain words used in her last journal was anagrams of other words when spelt backwards. He grabbed the journal before him and looked over the written passages, and he began seeing the words that he had missed over and over again.

"Why didn't I see this?" he asked himself.

"You lacked the insight into hu..." Zeya caught herself before finishing the rest of her sentence as she slowly moved away from him.

"Im sure you now will be able to finish your translations?"

"With that revelation, Im sure that I can get through this," Neive stated as he looked to her.

"Good," she stated as she started to walk away, heading toward the door. "As soon as you find out what you need and we get your sixth lion, the faster I can get off this planet."

Neive quickly stood just as she reached the door and it slid open.

"Zeya?"

She stopped where she was and turned to him.

"You probably dont hear this much, but thank you."

"Just take it as payment for you saving my life," she stated. "Get to work, commander. You have much to do."

Zeya turned as she left the room, the two guards who had been there, joined her as they walked down the hall together. The door slid close as Neive could only stare at it. He let out his breath as he seated himself back in his chair and he stared at the journal before him. All he could see was words. His mind was just not concentrating on the passages, even though he knew what to do to finish translating them.

He let out a groan before standing and leaving the small office. He needed to take a breather.

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Pidge looked at the young woman who was sitting silently in the small cell they had put her in.

"Siaras?"

The woman looked up as he approached the door of the small room she was in.

"Princess Allura wishes to speak with you, if you are willing to share with us why you initiated an attack on this castle."

The young woman smiled as she stood. "I will speak with her if she is willing to share some information with me."

Pidge looked at her. "And what kind of information are you looking for?"

Siaras smiled. "Marlena."

Pidge slowly nodded. "The queen?" he asked. "What did you want to know about her?"

"How involved was she in the creation of your protector," she stated. "Your Voltron."

"And what makes you think she had any involvement at all?"

Siaras smiled. "The power supply that runs your lions, they are based on the technology we developed years ago," she stated. "Marlena studied our sciences while she was on Triasus when she was a young woman. Rolsin knows this, and because of this, he knows the weakness that Voltron has. Do you think your mighty defender will have any chance of winning against the forces of an enemy that knows your weakness?"

Pidge could only stare at her, but he then pressed a button on the side of the cell she was in. The energy bars that covered the door disappeared. "I will escort you to see the princess," Pidge stated.

"You are trusting me?" she asked.

"Judging by your fighting techniques from last night, you would have killed me easily, but you didn't," he stated. "So, there must have been another reason as to why you came here, alone."

Siaras smiled. "They train you well," she stated.

Pidge stepped to the side as she exited from the cell she was in. Pidge then came to stand before her. "So, Rolsin is your commanding officer?"

"Rolsin is one of the 17 rulers on Planet Triasus," she stated. "A brilliant statician and an excellent fighter."

"Was he the one that sent you here?"

"Yes and no," she stated as he escorted her out of the detention area of the castle. "I was sent here as an order by Rolsin, to watch over you; I am acting on behalf of another to deliver a message to your princess."

"Another?" Pidge asked. "Rebels?"

She nodded. "Not all of us agree with the way things are being run on Triasus, and Rolsin and his brothers have the controlling interest in the government."

"It seems that you do have a lot to share, Siaras," Pidge stated. "Hopefully, we can work together."

"You really do not have a choice," she stated.

Pidge could only lead her the rest of the way as he escorted her to the Castle's Control Room. There the guards saluted as they entered. Siaras looked around, marveling at the size of the main control room, along with the technology needed to create such a place.

All hidden within the confines of the Castle.

As she was escorted toward the middle, she noted the three people standing in the center.

"Princess, I've brought our guest," Pidge stated.

The three individuals then turned to her. Princess Allura slowly walked toward Siaras as the woman stared at her.

"We can dispense with pleasantries," Allura stated. "Since I want to know why you came here and you attacked one my men."

Siaras smiled as she bowed to the young princess. "Princess Allura of Arus, it is my pleasure to finally meet you," she stated as she stood straight again. "You do your mother justice."

"My mother?" Allura asked. "How do you know about my mother?"

"I was very young when she came to visit," Siaras stated. "She studied under my father while she was on Triasus, and Im sure she learned much when she was there."

"Who are you?" Allura asked.

"My name is Siaras Rolle of the planet Triasus," she stated. "I have come here to warn you that Rolsin, the head chancellor of the Triasian Council is on a mission to destroy what is left of the Drule Supremacy; with the destruction of Planet Doom, he is now on the search for Princess Zeya and Prince Lotor and once he has them in his custody, his next sites will be the destruction of the Galaxy Alliance."

"Destruction?" Allura asked. "Why?"

"The mission of the Triasian Council is to see that our supremacy grows," she explained. "And anything that gets in the way, will suffer at our mercy.

"I came her to offer you warning," she continued. "That your Voltron will be no match against the forces that have concquered nearly a thousand planets. As Rolsin, knows his weakness."

"Weakness?" Lance asked.

Siaras then turned to Princess Allura. "Your mother studied our sciences when she came on a diplomatic mission to Triasus, before you were born," she stated. "She took with her the knowledge she had gained from our technology, and on that knowledge, she helped your father build your great defender. From that, I do not know how she used it, but examining footage of your fights with the Drule Empire, we were able to determine just exactly how the technology was used.

"You are at a great disadvantage, and you must be prepared to defend yourself againt Rolsin's forces," she warned. "There are a few of us that do not agree with his agressive nature, but our numbers cannot over throw his imperialistic rule."

Allura could only stare at her. "And what do you know of the sixth lion we are searching for?"

Siaras met her gaze. "What sixth lion?"

"My mother was working on a prototype lion that the five lions were based on," Allura stated. "If she based the Voltron Lions on this prototype, your raw techonolgoy she brought back with her must exist with this lion right?"

"Princess, this sixth lion you speak of, is in none of our records," she stated. "Your mother had your father construct the five lions first. Any other lion ship built after, was based on them."

"She's right."

The group then turned to the door as Neive entered. He quickly brought a small electronic tablet to Allura to have her read over. "We only assumed that she built this sixth lion first," he explained. "When in fact, she built the lion totally seperate of the original five."

"What are you saying?" Allura asked.

"That she anticipated the Triasians would be a force we would encounter in the future, and the knowledge she learned from them could be used against us," she said. "She had the sixth lion built to protect us should they decide to ever attack us."

"Protect?" Allura asked. "How?"

"When we find that lion, we will learn soon enough."

Siaras turned to the young man and noticed the metal armband he wore. Her gaze then shifted to the princess and noticed the similar armlet. She immediately reached out toward the young man, taking his arm into hers and looked at it.

"Where's the third?" was all she asked.

"The third is worn by the heir of Mythrias," Neive stated. "Princess Zeya."

"Your mother followed our lore very closely," Siaras stated. "The three who act as one."

"Three?" Allura asked. "We assumed that the armlets were made because of the three kingdoms here on Arus."

"We Triasians are born of three," Siaras stated. "By your terminology, triplets. Every Triasian born will be one of three children, always. Identical in each way; but different in many. Our technology is based on working the three together. Our fighting, our machinery, our weapons. All in three's.

"To find your lion, you must bring all three armlets together," Siaras explained. "If your mother used what she had learned, she would have hidden the Lion somehwere where three points converge. The armlets are your key to locating it."

"If what you're saying is true, then would it mean that it would take all three of us to activate it?"

"Princess Allura, if you trust me enough, I will have to work with your engineers to determine how it works," Siaras stated. "But, I must keep up the facade that I have in place."

"That is?"

"Chancellor Rolsin is expecting me to signal in a day's time," she stated. "Whether or not I have found Princess Zeya, as that is my mission. He must come to Arus, beliveing that I've captured her. Either way, he plans on initiating a small attack to test your forces.

He will want to test you and your Voltron Force on the effectiveness of your defender; testing to see if those weaknesses are there. I suggest that we find that sixth lion soon, or you will have to go up against his force of fighters without it."

Allura turned to Lance. "I will have you work with my Court Advisor," Allura stated. "Neive, please locate Princess Zeya and bring her here. The sooner we find this lion, we can anticipate the Triasian's visit."

"Princess, there is more that I must share with you about your mother's journals," Neive stated. "But it must be done in private."

Allura nodded. "I will meet with you on that soon," she stated. With that, Neive nodded before leaving the control room. "Siaras, you have been more than forthcoming with your reasons for being here, so I shall overlook your attempted attack on this castle. You will however be in contact with one of the Voltron Force members while you are here, and with an assigned guard when you are about the Castle. I'll have my help set a room for you so you can have a place to rest."

Siaras bowed. "I thank you, Princess Allura," she stated. "But at this time, I wish to work with your engineers so that I can become familiar with your existing lion ships."

"I'll have Hunk come to the Control Room," Keith stated.

Siaras turned to him, noting that he had been quiet during the whole conversation. Was this the young man that Rolsin had taken an interest in?

"Siaras, I will let you examine one of the lions, so that you can determine what we would need to prepare for any attack by your fellow Triasians," he stated. "If Princess Allura has extended her trust to you, I have no question in the sincerity of your request."

"I know that are a lot of reasons why you shouldn't trust me," she stated. "But unlike Rolsin, I was brought up to know where my trust should lie. You have shown that even your enemy can become a friend."

Keith nodded. "You will find a lot of unconventional things that happen with us, Siaras," he stated. "But we do not tolerate any one going back on the trust we have given them."

"I have no intention to do so," she stated.

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Rolsin smiled to himself as he finished watching the footage collected by Taisia. He turned to his brothers before taking his seat at his desk.

"It seems that they put much faith into that giant robot," Relins stated. "What else were we able to gather from Planet Doom's archives?"

"We do have the location of all the Galaxy Alliance weaker planets," Risen stated. "But, you should find this interesting."

Risen then handed his older brother a small disc. "Seems that one of their newly joined planets had a union with Planet Doom, recently."

"Union?" Rolsin asked. He looked at the small disc, then inserted into the image viewer before him. Rolsin could only smile to himself.

"How ironic."

"Queen Anala just gave birth to their son, as reports would have it," Relins stated.

Rolsin nodded. "This little situation just gets better, the more we inquire to their ongoings," he stated. "We will go on as planned, however. Once we receive Siaras' signal, we head full toward Planet Arus."

"Small attack force?" Risen asked.

"Yes," Rolsin stated. "I want to test their security as well as their individual lions. Prevent them from forming their robot defender, even if you have to go so far as damaging one of them. If their commander is the one brought down, I want to face him personally."

"And what of Siaras?"

Rolsin leaned back in his chair. "Her worth to us has diminished," he stated. "If she has capture Princess Zeya, take both of them into custody. If she has failed, execute her."

"Gorin will have your head if you kill his last daughter," Relins stated.

"I will take care of Gorin," Rolsin stated. "Until then, we make our way toward Arus, at our current speed."

"I will inform you once we receive word from Siaras."

Rolsin nodded. "If Gorin gives you trouble before our attack, lock him up in our cells below."

Relins nodded. "As you wish."

Rolsin nodded as he excused his two brothers. He then turned to the view screen before him as he pressed a button on the computer before him, watching the footage again.

"So Marlena, is this the best you could have come up with?" he asked himself. "And why couldn't the Drule Empire defeat your creation."

He continued to study the footage, familiarizing himself with the techiniques and strategy used by the Voltron Force. He knew that he wanted to be prepared should he have his forces confront the mighty robot defender.


	11. Chapter 11

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 11  
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Keith looked over the reports that he received from both Katherine and Neive while he and Lance attended to the daily reports in the Castle's Control room. Pidge, Hunk and their new guest, Siaras were busy down in the repair bays as they went over the intricasies of the Lion ships, to familiarize her with the technology used. He was hoping they would have a report for him as soon as they were done.

Lance was busy at the control panel as he entered the reports he received from the regular castle personnel. As he finished up his last report he turned to his long time friend, seeing that he was looking over the report that Neive had given him.

"So what did Neive have to report?" Lance asked.

Keith let out a sigh as he turned to him. "What we already know," he stated. "He couldn't figure out on where to start our search for the sixth lion."

"But, if we have Allura, Neive and Zeya are supposed to be able to locate it, wouldn't we just need them to get together?"

Keith could only shake his head. "We've already had them together, and their armlets have done nothing," he stated. "No, I think we need to be physically somewhere in order to activate them. And that 'where' is what we need to figure out."

Lance slowly nodded, then he thought for a moment. "Just before Neive got into trouble with his lion, he mentioned that he was checking out the old site of where Mythrias once stood," he stated. "After he woke up, he reported that something happened with his armlet, but I simply excused it at first that because Zeya was near him, the two just were drawn to each other because they were close."

Keith turned to him. "But they are close now and the armlets aren't even reacting to each other?"

Lance slowly nodded. "Marlena knew that she would have to keep the sixth lion safe from those eyes of Zarkon as he was the main attacking force during that time," Lance sated. "Zarkon concentrated his attacks on this kingdom and left Helena alone. Mythrias was already leveled by that time."

"Mythrias," Keith stated. "It all comes back to the first kingdom."

"Keith, if the area is where Marlena hid the lion, we will have to be prepared to know that the Triasians, might know of the location as well," Lance offered. "And we still do not know of what happened to Prince Lotor. What if he is hellbent on coming to Arus?"

"We will have to concern ourselves about Lotor later," Keith stated. "As soon as Hunk and Pidge are through with showing Siaras around the repair bays, have them report to the Control Room. Have Allura and Neive also bring Zeya here. We'll take the Lion ships to explore that area."

"I'll signal them."

"We should do it before sunset," Keith stated. "If we do happen upon the Lion, we want enough time to explore the area. We dont even know if its in an underground laboratory, or just hidden away in a cave. Without light, we wont be able to know what the heck we are looking at."

Lance nodded. "What if Marlena set up a trap?"

"We'll have to take that under consideration," Keith stated. "Just keep your eyes peeled for anything that seems out of place."

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Rolsin stared at the com-unit before him as it played through a series of videos documenting the attacks by King Zarkon's forces against Planet Arus. He made sure to note any patterns evident in the giant defender's movements as well as how the team that piloted the great robot worked to defeat the individual robot fighters on their own in each lion ship. He was quick to recognize how each pilot had approached each attack different from each other, yet were able to work together to defeat the forces that threatened to destroy the beautiful planet.

A ring came from his study's door and he allowed whomever was visiting in.

"We've finally received the signal from Siaras," Risen stated as he entered his brother's study. "She states that she has found Princess Zeya. She is with the Voltron Force, playing on their trust."

"I see," Rolsin stated as he stood from his chair. "Any word on Lotor?"

"She has not seen him on Arus," Risen stated. "However, she has learned that the Voltron Force is currently looking for a new weapon that their Queen Marlena had developed years ago."

"New weapon?"

"Something about a sixth lion..."

Rolsin met his brother's gaze. "There was no reports or indications of any sixth lion ship," he stated.

"The location and the knowledge of this new lion ship had only been recently discovered by the Voltron Force themselves," Risen stated. "Do you think that Marlena was able to develop a ship unbeknownst to even the Drule Forces?"

Rolsin could only nod. "It seems so," he stated. "Has Siaras learned anything of the technology for this sixth lion?"

Risen shook his head. "So far, the only person who has had access to any such documentation is the Voltron Force Beta pilot of the Blue Lion ship," he stated. "A Prince Neive of the Kingdom of Helena."

"Did she state that they have found the ship?"

"The will be sending out their ships today to do so."

"Then we must slow their progress," Rolsin stated. "Send forth our attack fleet. You and Relins will join me so we may confront this Voltron Force together. Capture both the Princess Zeya and Siaras. If anyone gets in your way to do so, destroy them."

Risen nodded. "We should have the strike force ready within the half hour."

"Good," Rolsin stated. "Once we have Arus, the Galaxy Alliance's entire legion shall fall to us."

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"Queen Anala!"

Anala turned as a young soldier quickly made his way to meet her. As soon as she saw the look in his eyes, she knew that something was wrong.

"Milady," he started. "We just received a signal from our long range sattelites," he stated. "A massive energy spike was just detected just outside the Azure Quadrant. Xue thinks that its a large attack force, heading toward Planet Arus."

"Attack force?" Anala asked. "How many?"

"Over 14,000 ships, by Xue's guess," he stated. "It's larger than any known attack force by the Drules."

"Has he tried to contact the Voltron Force?"

"The signal is being jammed," he stated. "No matter what we do, we cannot get out a warning call to them."

"They are sitting blind," Anala said. "Thank you, Giha. Tell Xue that I will meet him in the Palace's main control room within the hour."

"Yes, milady."

Anala watched as the young soldier run off in the direction he came from. She then turned to the man who stood beside her.

"Tell me, how large was the force that attacked Planet Doom?"

"Nearly half that size."

"It seems that the Triasians have finally set their sights on a new target," Anala stated as she met Lotor's gaze.

She studied him as he stood next to her. Physical wounds now healed, she knew that there was more that was hurting him. The loss of his home; his sister missing. And as much as she knew, he probably did wonder what happened to his father, even if he was not willing to voice any concern over the Drule King. Now dressed in the formal attire of Vallusian royalty, she somehow felt that he looked right. Finally finding a place where he belonged.

"The only way we can warn them is if we make our way to Arus," he stated. "Even then, if they are unprepared for this attack force, they may not have a chance, even with Voltron."

Anala nodded. "We will let Xue know of this," she stated. "Come, there isn't much time."

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Mythrias, one of Arus' three kingdoms, laid as ruins befor the Voltron Force as they circled the old area. Allura gazed down along the the expanding forest line, barely any memory of the grand kingdom that once stood here.

"Has it been that long?" Allura asked herself. The forest had reclaimed what was left of the kingdom. Any sign of buildings were now long under thick foliage; only small remanants of once were stone roads could be seen under the chiseled ground.

The main castle should have stood right under us, Pidge came over their com system. Infrared scans confirm the old foundation. It seems that last attack by Zarkon's forces all those years ago, leveled the entire building.

Princess Zeya stood quietly as she rode with Keith in his lion ship. She could only find herself staring at the forest, before her on the view screen. Staring at the land that was once her mother's home. She didn't know what to think.

"Pidge, keep scanning the area," she heard Keith's reply to his teammate. "If Queen Marlena did hide the lion ship around here, then there must be a hidden cavern or underground cave near here."

Roger, the younger teammate answered. Neive, any reaction so far?

Neive rode in the Blue Lion with Princess Allura and he met her gaze. "Nothing so far, Pidge," Neive stated. "But , I was flying about 2 clicks south of this position when my armlet started acting up. Where I confronted Princess Zeya."

Zeya looked down at her armlet and saw nothing coming from it. "Yes," she stated. "We were farther south."

Keith slowly nodded. "Pidge, you and Hunk continue to scout this area," he issued. "Allura, Lance, and I will continue South to see if we pick up anything. We will meet back here in an hour's time."

Hopefully, we wont have to do some major digging, Lance replied. Keith, Siaras says that we should also scan for any unknown metals. It will speed up the search.

"Roger that," Keith answered. "Okay, head due south and we'll searc the area. Neive, if either of your armlets have any reaction, notify us immediately. We'll touch down and explore on foot from there."

Roger, came Neive's reply.

From there the five ships separated, and red, blue and Black lions continued south toward the lower end of Mythrias.

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# # # # # The Elyts, the Azure Quadrant # # # # #

"Our forces are ready, my lord," Relins stated as he entered his brother's study. "If we leave now, we should reach Planet Arus in a little over of their hours time."

"Good," Rolsin stated as he stood from the chair he was sitting in. "Is Risen ready with his army?"

"They are prepped and awaiting your command."

"We will keep it clean, this time," Rolsin stated. "This is a new force we will be going up against, and I want to be sure to see what we can gain from them.

"As much as we need, we need not do a full scale attack," Rolsin continued. "I am in search of Princess Zeya, and Siaras has confirmed her presence with the Voltron Force. A small fleet will do."

"I will let Risen know," Relins said. "What if the Princess is with one of the Voltron members?"

"We do as with all those who defy us," Rolsin stated.

"Understood," Relins stated. "Your command ship awaits."

"Stay with Risen until we reach Arus, then both of you join me in the command ship once the attack commences. We will go down to Arus once the third wave starts."

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# # # # # Planet Arus - Lower Mythrias # # # # #

Zeya watched the viewscreen as they flew over a dense section of the forest that ran through the south end of Mythrias. They were nearing the area where she had confronted the Blue Lion pilot, Neive.

She then felt a slight sensation from her right wrist and her attention turned to that of the armlet she was wearing.

"We're near," she stated.

Keith looked at her and saw that her armlet was indeed reacting to the area they were in.

"Princess, Neive, are your armlets reacting to the area?"

Yes, they are reacting to this area, the Princess replied. We should land and explore this area.

"There's a clearing about a hundred yards from here," Keith noted. "We'll land there and see what is around here. I'll send out a signal to Pidge and Hunk to meet us here."

Keith, I will land my lion a little farther up so Siaras and I can take a look around, Lance radioed in from the Red Lion. If we notice something out of the ordinary, I will radio you.

"Roger," Keith stated. "Blue Lion, read to land in that clearing."

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Keith slowly opened the upper hatch to his lion and climbed out. He then helped Princess Zeya from the small cockpit and they quickly made their way down to the ground. Zeya looked around remembering that only a few days ago, she had been injured by the Blue Lion as she confronted its lone pilot. She watched as the Blue made its descent and came to land a few yards away. As the dust and debris settled, she watched as two figures made their way out of the lion ship. She followed Keith as he went to greet them.

"Anything in this area looks familiar?" Keith asked once they were grouped together.

Neive looked around slowly shaking his head. "Just from the other day," he stated. "When Blue Lion trapped the both of us."

Zeya slowly nodded in agreement. She turned her gaze to the armlet she was wearing seeing that the jewels embedded within were blinking.

"We're here together, but nothing is happening," Neive stated as he too looked at his armlet.

Zeya then turned toward the Blue Lion as it rested in the distance. She then looked at their armlets and then turned toward the Black Lion.

"Wait," she stated. "The five lions."

"What is it?" Princess Allura asked.

She looked around the ground for a small stick. She then knelt down and started to draw out a symbol in the ground before her.

"The five lions, like the five points of a star," she stated. "The same symbol you see when you start to go through the sequence to form Voltron. The lion ships. They must be here in that same formation."

Keith slowly nodded and pulled out his communicator. "Lance, Hunk, Pidge, make your way to our position, we are going to need your lions to help us."

Aye Aye, be there in a few clicks, Pidge replied.

Keith studied the area. As always, his senses were on alert, hoping that while they were out searching for a lost lion ship, that nothing would happen in the process. With Zarkon out of the picture, he was not sure whether Lotor would be on his way to Arus, to collect his sister.

The roar of the other Lions ships above caused him to look up and they made their descent into the star pattern that Zeya had pointed out. The six lion pilots and women gathered in the middle. Zeya looked around then stared down at her armlet. She then turned to Neive, before meeting the gaze of the others.

"We have to be alone here," she stated. "You, take to the forest edge. I have a feeling that whatever we are going to reveal will not show itself unless we are here alone."

Keith slowly nodded and handed Neive his blaster. "If anything seems out of the ordinary, your lives are more important to us than that lion ship. Be careful."

"We will," Neive stated.

The others moved away from the inner circle and took to the outlying foliage. Zeya turned to Princess Allura and Neive as she held out her armlet.

"What are we supposed to do?" Allura asked.

"Since this is my mother's homeland," Zeya started.

Allura and Neive watched as she closed her eyes. Suddenly the jewels on each of their armlets began to shine brighter. The symbols of each kingdom slowly shined with an inner light. Neive turned when he saw that the Blue Lion was roaring in the distance; followed by Yellow, Green, Red and then Black Lion.

Then, the ground beneath them started to rumble and the outline of a pentagon started to form around them. The inner shape of a five pointed star.

Zeya then opened her eyes as Allura and Neive met her gaze.

"It's here."

Allura and Neive then let out a gasp as the ground beneath them to shake. A sudden wind came up, sending leaves and dust everywhere.

Then all became silent. The air around them felt still, not a sound emanated from the forest around them. The lions ships were now silent, resting as if nothing had happened. Neive looked around, then felt a slight vibration coming from the armlet he was wearing. The two jewels embed within were now glowing instead of blinking.

Zeya looked at her own then held her arm out. Neive nodded as he held his own toward the center. As the armlets came together, the jewels grew brighter, and a holographic image appeared before them; an image of showing all three of Arus' royalty. Queen Marlena, Queen Orla, and Princess Karone.

"Mother..."

For Zeya, it was the first time she had ever seen her mother, as she stood among the two Queens. She looked peaceful, yet concerned. It was her image that then came forward as the holographic message played before them.

# If you are seeing this message, then a force far more powerful than King Zarkon or the Drules have finally shown their presence in this galaxy, she started. As heirs to the three kingdoms of Arus, you are the only ones that can activate Marlena's greatest creation. Together, with the 5 lions that form Voltron, you will have the power needed to defeat this new force.

# Activating this new weapon requires the need of all three armlets, # she continued. # Access to the lion ship can be found under the old ... ca...Myt... #

The message then became garbled, as if something was interfering with its transmission, and the message then ended. The jewels on their armlets dimmed and finally returned to normal.

"Damn it!" Neive yelled as he shook his arm. "What's going on?"

Zeya looked around as she drew her arm back. "Something's not right," she stated.

Allura slowly nodded as she signaled for the others. Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge rounded the lion ships as they joined them in the center.

"Something is wrong," Allura stated.

"Did you find out where the lion is hidden?" Pidge asked.

Allura shook her head. "The message didn't finish," she stated. "Keith, can you raise the Castle?"

Keith lifted the communicator from his belt and turned it on. As he tried to contact the Castle, all he got was static.

"Something is jamming the signal," he stated. "Get to your Lions, Neive you take the Blue Lion and head back to the Castle with Allura. Then join us once you've dropped her back."

"I'll monitor the radars from Castle Control," Allura stated. "Lance, Siaras will have to stay with you for the time being."

"Zeya, you will fly with me," Keith stated. "We should hurry. We can find this lion ship later."

Everyone nodded and headed toward the Lion ships. Siaras looked back toward the Black Lion as Lance helped her into the Red Lion. She then breathed in deeply as she jumped into the cockpit and Lance closed the hatch. She then watched the view screen before her as the pilot launched to join the other ships.

# Sorry, father. #

She slowly pulled out a garrote from the pouch she wore as she quietly stood behind the seat of the Red Lion pilot.

# to be continued #


	12. Chapter 12

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 12  
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# # # # # Triasian Attack Force # # # # #

Rolsin watched from his command ship as the Planet Arus came into view and  
filled the screen before him. He smiled to himself seeing at how beautiful  
this planet was. It reminded him of Triasus, a time before the wars and  
conflicts between the different houses started up. Then it was his family  
who took it upon themselves to illicit change on Triasus.

"That is odd."

Rolsin turned toward his brother who then approached him. "Scans of the  
surface show that the Voltron Force were gathered in this area."

Rolsin looked at the map given to him by his brother. "They could have been  
scouting," he stated. "Any word from Siaras?"

"Her last transmission stated that they were exploring an old area, once  
called Mythrias," Relins stated. "Something about going to find the sixth  
lion."

"Ah," Rolsin stated. "Something she created for her husband's giant  
defender. No matter, we are prepared for their defenses."

"How should we approach Arus?"

"We will come in south of their main kingdom," Rolsin stated. "There are  
some populated villages near there we can target. That should lure the  
Voltron Force out of their dens. Send our fighters out in our planned attack  
pattern. Attack so that we seperate each Lion ship out, unable to form that  
robot. I want to see what these things can do on their own."

"We will head out in the third wave as scheduled?"

Rolsin nodded. "They will probably take care of our fighters easily," he  
stated. "I want to separate their main lion, the Black Lion, from the  
others. Incapacitate it if necessary."

"I will instruct our forces to do so."

Rolsin nodded. "I want to meet this so called commander of this rag tag  
group," he stated. "The weakness to all things great is the man behind who  
commands them all."

Relins nodded. "Our fighter craft is ready to leave at any moment," Relins  
stated. "Risen and I will meet you in the hangar."

Rolsin agreed as he looked over the map before him. "Why the Drule  
superemacy and Zarkon himself could not conquer this pitiful planet is  
beyond my understanding."

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¦ ¦Keith, this is Katherine, can you read me?¦ ¦

Katherine let out a grunt as she looked at the viewscreen before her. They  
hadn't heard from the Voltron Force all afternoon and any communications  
they had been receiving were now jammed.

"No use," Shane stated. "There is something jamming our signals. No way to  
get anything sent."

Katherine turned to the younger member of her team, though before she could  
figure what to say, she watched as Princess Allura entered the Control  
Center.

"Princess!"

Shane turned as the princess joined them. "What do our long range sensors  
say?" was the first thing she asked.

"They're dead just as our radio communications," Katherine stated. "We have  
been trying to contact you for the last hour. All communications went dead  
after the Keith's last report."

"If our long range sensors aren't responding, then we'll have to assume that  
something is on its way here," Allura stated. "Katherine, get your force  
together, and take the Arusian fighter jets out. The Voltron Force will need  
your back up just in case."

"What about our communications?" Shane asked.

"I'll work with Coran on trying to get something up so that we can keep in  
contact with you out there," Allura stated. "We need to be prepared if we  
are under attack."

"Well, we wont be in the Lions," Katherine stated. "Shane, get ahold of  
Lianne and Teri, I'll meet all of you down in the hangars. Allura, I'll meet  
with Captain Derin to get our fighter squad suited and ready."

Allura nodded. "Whatever you do, do not endanger yourself," Allura stated.  
"The Lions will only need you all as backup. Stay alert as much as possible,  
and do not be lured into any cat and mouse games. If this is a new enemy we  
are up against, we have to be sure we know them well to engage in any close  
combat."

"Princess, were you able to find the sixth lion?" Shane asked.

Allura slowly shook her head. "We'll have to worry about that later," she  
said. "This will be the first major combat for our new fighters, so be  
prepared."

"We will, Princess," Katherine stated. "Good luck."

"Good luck to you."

Allura watched as the two members race off. Allura turned to the control  
center before her and raised for Coran to meet her there. She looked at the  
viewscreen before her, wondering if they were about to encounter the force  
that her mother had spent her life trying to protect Arus against. There was  
so much she had not known about her and so much that she felt that she did.

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Keith brought the Black Lion to hover over the mesa that looked over one of  
the many villages that were built near the Castle of Lions. Derche laid  
quietly below, as its residents went about their daily chores.

"We should warn them," Keith stated. "I have a real bad feeling about this."

"Can you even communicate with the other Lions?" Zeya asked.

"All communications are being jammed," he stated. "There are four other  
villages near here. If a force is about to attack us, they'll be in as much  
danger as Derche."

Zeya breathed in deeply as she stood from where she was sitting.

"There is a way," she stated. "But you will have to trust me."

Keith turned to her as she came to stand behind him.

"What is it?"

"I used to do this with Lotor when we were younger," she stated. "The only  
thing is that it opens up all your thoughts to everyone."

"At this point, its better than remaining in this blackout."

Zeya nodded as she closed her eyes then reopened them. She then rounded his  
chair and kneeled just to the side of him, so that what she was about to do  
would not interfere with his piloting. She placed a hand against his chest  
and then laid a hand on the console before him. She closed her eyes and then  
concentrated.

"Just speak normally," she stated. "Through the Lions, you will be able to  
communicate with the others."

Keith slowly nodded. "Lance, can you read me?"

'' Keith ! '' he heard Lance's reply. '' How the ? ''

"Dont worry about that," Keith stated. "Listen, you wont be able to contact  
Hunk or Pidge, but I am able to. The Villages of Roche and Izre are near  
you, you must set down to warn them to take to the shelters."

'' Understood, '' came Lance's reply.

"Im currently over Derche. I will have Hunk and Pidge take care of the other  
villages," Keith stated. "Hurry."

'' Roger, '' Lance replied. '' I'll rendeveaux to your are in 20 minutes. ''

"Good luck."

Zeya kept her concentration, as she kept open his contact with his  
teammates. She fought back the urge to explore the minds he was  
communicating with as with this ability, it opened those she was in contact  
with, to her like an open book. However, as much as she fought against the  
reading of the minds of the rest of the Voltron Force, his own mind opened  
to her like a tidal wave.

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# # # # # Enroute to Planet Arus # # # # #

Anala stared at the view screen before her as the stars raced by. They were no where near Planet Arus, and she knew that it would take another hours time just to make it to the Azue Quadrant. Lemille and Sendrre stood with her as they looked upon the reports that were given to them by Lotor.

"If these reports are correct, the Triasians rely mainly on attacking with huge numbers," Lemille stated. "Like invading wasps taking over a bee's nest. Sheer number to overwhelm the forces of a planet."

Anala turned toward her. "If they rely on numbers, how can we go against them?"

Lemille met her gaze. "With such a sizeable force, that would mean large enough ships to transport them all," Lemille stated. "And of course, energy; power to fuel and run these ships. They probably attack to conquer, and take what they need as resources offered. If we can find a main transport ship and infiltrate it to find the weakness, we can probably find a way to disable much of their force."

Anala nodded as she looked over the reports. "It seems they are just moving from system to system, to conquer as much as they can. By the size of their force, it doesn't look as if they have any intention of returning to their home planet." Anala thought to herself. "What do we know about Triasus?"

"Not much had been related, since many have never been there," Lemille stated.

"I think we need to find out what is driving this force so far from their home system," Anala stated. "Maybe then it will make us understand exactly who they are, and why they are so intent on destroying other systems."

"We will have to take caution when we near Arus," Lemille stated. "Their force has a lead over us, and will proably be attacking. We do not want to get caught where we will be attacked in the process."

"When we near Arus, we will approach it from the far side," Anala stated. "Fly under their radars until we can get close enough to Altaire. Hopefully, there wont be much for us to worry about, but we will have back up before we approach."

"We will go ahead and research Triasus for you, milady," Lemille stated. "If we find anything, we will let you know."

Anala nodded. "Just pray that the Voltron Force aren't caught off guard."

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Keith watched the view screen before him as each of his teammates reported in. They were successful in evacuating the five villages near the Castle of Lions to the caves and shelters nearby. He pulled up the Black Lion to hover near the Castle as the others joined him.

¦ ¦ Keith, can you read me? ¦ ¦

"Allura?" Keith stated as he heard her voice coming over the com. "You were able to restore communications?"

¦ ¦ You can thank Teri for that later, ¦ ¦ Allura stated. ¦ ¦ We still do not have any radar, but at least we can communicate. ¦ ¦

Keith turned to Princess Zeya as she slowly nodded and stood. She breathed in deeply as she came to stand behind him. "Thanks," he stated.

"I think it would be best if I return to the Castle," Zeya stated.

¦ ¦ I agree, ¦ ¦ Allura stated. ¦ ¦ Lance, you should also bring Siaras back to the Castle ¦ ¦

¦ ¦ The surrounding villages have been cleared, Allura, ¦ ¦ Lance's reply came. ¦ ¦ Keith, let's drop these ladies off? ¦ ¦

"Good idea," Keith stated. "Be on your guard. Stick together."

¦ ¦ Understood, ¦ ¦ Pidge and Hunk replied.

¦ ¦ Keith, if we are engaged in battle, what about Voltron? ¦ ¦ Pidge asked.

"Unless they pull a robeast, we will not form Voltron," Keith stated. "Just keep your cool. Dont fall into any trap or engage in dog fighting. We do not need to be hot headed jocks out there."

¦ ¦ Sir, would it be best if I keep guard around the Castle? ¦ ¦ Neive asked.

¦ ¦ Its alright, Neive, ¦ ¦ Allura replied. ¦ ¦ Katherine, Teri, Shane and Lianne will be providing back up here at the Castle. We got those new fighters to use, so we may as well get a full sense of what they are capable of doing. ¦ ¦

¦ ¦ Understood,¦ ¦ Neive stated.

Zeya then breathed in deeply. "Something's not right," she stated.

Keith turned to her. "What is it?"

Zeya shook her head for a moment and closed her eyes. "There's a stillness," she stated. She then opened her eyes and gasped. "Look out!"

Her warning came late as a sudden force hit the Black Lion, causing the ship to go into a free fall. Keith fought with his controls and he regained them and brought his Lion ship back up.

¦ ¦ KEITH! Are you alright! ¦ ¦ Hunk's yell came over the com.

"Yeah, fine!" he answered.

¦ ¦ What in all of Arus... ¦ ¦ Lance said over the com.

Keith pulled his Lion up into a hover and turned toward where Red Lion was facing.

"Oh my lord," Zeya stated as she looked at the screen.

Before them, the horizon was blanketed with thousands of ships as they made their way toward the Castle Of Lions. He then spied a group of ships that had broken off the from the iminent force, and deduced that one of those ships was one that fired upon him.

"Guys, dont exert yourself," Keith ordered. "Dont get cocky. WE have backup."

¦ ¦ Im sending out the fighter ships now, ¦ ¦ Allura came over the com. ¦ ¦ They will stay close to the Castle so you guys can take of business on the permieter. ¦ ¦

Keith slowly nodded. "Lance, you and Neive take the right flank of ships," Keith ordered. "Hunk and Pidge, you guys have the left. I'll take on those that get away from the pack."

¦ ¦ Understood, ¦ ¦ Lance stated. ¦ ¦ Without our radars, we will be doing this the old fashioned way. Just how I -- ¦ ¦

Keith quickly sat up in his seat as he watched as Lance's image disappeared from his view screen and saw the Red Lion loose altitude.

"Lance!"

¦ ¦ Keith, 2 o'clock! ¦ ¦ Neive's warning came.

The attack had begun, but Lance was not responding and Keith felt helpless as he watched the Red Lion fall toward the earth below. He had to decide quickly what he was going to do, and if he had enough time to do it in.

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Lance grabbed at his neck as he fought to control the Red Lion. He could feel the taught wire digging into the flesh of his neck as it only tightened.

"Rolsin was right to see your Voltron Force trust a total stranger."

He fought to find the breath he needed, but the force of the garrote around his neck only tightened the harder he tried to fight it. Then, finding the strength he needed, Lance let go of the controls to the Red Lion and with his feet, forced the controls into the console before him. Using the leverage he created for himself, he pushed back on the seat, which also caused the Red Lion to go into a nose dive. He hoped that the G-force created by the sudden force would stop Siaras from choking hte life out of him.

It was what he needed. The wire around his neck loosened and he was able to grab hold of her arm that held the simple weapon and used his feet to finally bring the Lion up from its dive. This caused Siaras to fall back toward the back of the compartment as he pulled the weapon from around his neck and gained control back of his Lion. He quickly looked back and saw that the young girl was slowly trying to get back to her feet. With a grunt, he pulled Red Lion into a hover, but was caught off guard as an enemy ship came bearing down on him.

¦ ¦ Lance, move! ¦ ¦ Pidge's cry over his com came.

Lance let out a groan as he had to put his lion into a dive again, to avoid the cross fire from the enemy ship heading toward him. He spied an area of forest that he knew well enough and dove his lion below the tree line. That caused the pursuant ship to bring its own attack to a halt as it tried to avoid the forest trees. This gave Lance his advantage as he puleld back on his controls and roared out of the forest to bring his Lion about to confront the attacking ship.

He spied the ship in his view screen and made quick notes about its design.

"Now, let's just see what you can do."

Lance pushed his controls so that he started toward the enemy ship. Though the fighter moved in such a manner, that caused Lance to swing his Lion around as the enemy pulled out of its maneuver to set up for another attack.

"What in blazing hell?"

Before he could dwell on it, he watched as 7 more fighters joined the one that was dogging him. Soon, they broke off into three groups and initiated their attack on his ship. Lance reacted quickly as he pulled his Lion up, heading toward the sky above him so that he could put a large lead between him and the fighters.

However, speed was not on his side as a group of fighters caught up with his ship and began firing. He dodged their attacks as best as he could, looking back to see Siaras being thrown around in the cockpit as he fought his controls as well as dodged lazer fire bearing down on him. At this point, he could have cared less for her safety as she had tried to kill him only moments before.

"Damn these guys are fast."

He quickly looked at his view screen to see his teammates in similar situations against the fighter ships. The eight that were now challenging him were already giving him a handful, and to see the thousands more on the horizon, he knew that their work today would be more than anything they had encountered before.

The eight ships began their attack on the Red Lion once again. Lance breathed in deeply as he pulled his gloves off and took hold of hte control again.

"So, if you guys want to play dirty."

He then activated his weapon system and targeted the first 2 ships he saw. "Well, Keith told us not to play games," Lance said to himself. "Well, let's just see how you guys like it for real."

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Rolsin, Relins and Risen stood on the top of a mesa that overlooked the land below them. Rolsin watched as the five lion ships confronted his forces, studying them as they took down fighter after fighter. The Arusian fleet were having their fair share of combat as they took care of any ships that came close to the Castle of Lions.

"They do fight better than any we have seen before," Risen commented. "However, a little sloppy."

Rolsin slowly nodded. "How many of the second wave have we lost already?"

"A quarter," Relins stated. "First wave was completely wiped out."

Rolsin nodded. "Not many could take on that many ships and survive," he stated. "Any signs of weakness you can detect?"

"They are fighting as well as they have since the start," Risen stated. "However, the pilot of the Red Lion ship is becoming more agressive the longer the battle wages. The Blue Lion is working well with it however, serving as backup."

"And the others?"

"Yellow and Green are handling the fighters fine, but the Yellow one, is a little slower in reacting to quick attacks," Risen stated. "From observing, it seems that the Lion itself is based more for strong attacks. A total opposite of its Green counterpart."

"Very wise to pair the two lions together," Rolsin noted. "Hot headedness with a cool demanor. Quick with the strength. Their commander knows his teammates very well and the Lions very well."

Rolsin looked toward the sky and watched as the Black Lion took out several fighters and then met with another attack force.

"I think we can send in our last wave," Rolsin stated. "We have enough to study their tactics?"

Risen nodded. "Save for meeting each pilot in person," he said. "Shall we proceed with our strategy?"

Rolsin nodded. "The Black Lion is mine to confront," he stated.

"What of Siaras?"

Rolsin shrugged as he put his helmet back on and started his way back to his ship. "If you see her, kill her."

"Understood," Risen stated as they headed toward the command ship.

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Keith watched the view screen before him, keeping eye out on his teammates and watching the Arusian fighters take on the ships that got too close to the Castle. He watched as the Blue and Red Lions took out the ships closest to him while the Yellow and Green Lions took out any fighters that got too close to any of the surrounding villages.

"Its almost never ending," Keith said to himself. He turned back in his cockpit to see Zeya holding on as best as she could while strapped into a seat. "Is there anything you can sense about these fighters?"

"Beyond they are piloted by robots?" she asked. "They are being controlled, but its very systematic."

Keith nodded as he looked back the screen before him. "Its like they are testing us," he stated.

"Or testing you," she stated.

'Damn it,' Keith thought to himself. He watched his view screen again as Neive took out another set of fighters as Lance gave chase to three others. 'They were playing us.'

"Hunk, Pidge, pull back," Keith suddenly ordered.

¦ ¦ What! ¦ ¦ Pidge answered.

"Pidge, you and Hunk help out the fighter defend the Castle," Keith ordered. "I'll have Neive and Lance join you as soon as they are done with their group."

¦ ¦ Keith, what is it? ¦ ¦ Hunk asked.

"I should have seen it from the beginning," he stated. "They are testing us, to see the strengths and weakenesses of each Lion."

¦ ¦ Then we should just finish these guys up, so they know not to mess with us! ¦ ¦ Hunk stated.

"No, this is just a small taste of what we are going to see," Keith stated.

Keith then spied a couple of fighters and brought his Lion around to dispatch them both. He pulled his Lion around to face Green and Yellow.

"Pull back to the Castle," he ordered. "I'll help Lance and Neive clean up. If my hunches are right, they will not send any more fighters if we are unwilling to engage them."

¦ ¦ Understood, ¦ ¦ Pidge replied.

"Just set yourself to defend, do not engage unless forced to," Keith ordered.

With that, Keith watched as the Green and Yellow lions dispatched another group of fighters before turning to head toward the Castle to stay on its perimeter. He then pulled his Lion around as another group of fighters headed toward Red and Blue Lions. Just as he approached them, a set of fighters appeared and engaged his lion. He swore under his breath, for not anticipating a move, and pulle back on his controls to climb higher into the sky. The fighters followed suit, breaking off into two groups.

Keith acted quickly as he took out two fighters as two others came in from his starboard side to initate their attack. Quickly he took out the the two just as three others fired upon him. He dodged the first barrage of lazer, but was hit on his port side by another set. The jolt cause him to push down on his controls as he worked to dodge the last two fighters that were waiting for his next move. He fired upon then, taking them out just as the three fighters who followed him, fired again. He dodged their fire and pulled up on his controls.

Just as he came about to take out the last three fighters, a sudden jolt hit his Lion broadside. He pulled on his controls again as the three fighters dodged the oncoming blasts. As he reared his Lion around, another broadside blast knocked his instrument out, sending his lion into a free fall. Keith fought against the controls as best as he could, but all power to them was lost.

"Zeya, brace yourself!" he yelled out.

He gritted his teeth as he fought the controls as the top of a neaby mesa came into view. If he couldn't pull the Lion up, he feared that his descent would take him straight into the mountain side.

tbc

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	13. Chapter 13

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 13  
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Lance pulled his Lion ship around as he took out the last of the fighters  
that came near the Castle of Lions. He saw Neive finish up his set of  
fighters as well. He breathed in deeply as he watched his scanners to see if  
any other fighters were nearing.

Lance, that was 7,867 fighters we took out, Pidge came over his  
communcations link. That is more fighters than we ever encountered with  
Zarkon's forces.

Lance gritted his teeth. "Just who in the hell are these guys," he asked  
himself. He then turned around to see that the young woman, Siaras, was  
laying unconscious in the rear of his cockpit. He quickly flipped on the  
auto-pilot of his lion before standing up to confront her.

"Wake up!" he yelled as he pulled her up. "Just who in the hell are you?  
Who is controlling these fighters!"

Siaras slowly opened her eyes to mee the gaze of the pilot above her. She  
smiled weakly. "You have already lost," she stated.

"What do you mean?" Lance asked. "Who are you?"

"Rolsin knows about the sixth lion ship," she stated. "He will do everything  
in his power to prevent you from finding and using it. Even now, he has  
enough information about your Voltron Lions to find a way to defeat you.  
Your Captain fell into our trap so easily. He was so predictable."

Lance's eyes widened. "What?"

"Even now, Rolsin will do everything in his power to destroy the Black Lion,  
even if it means in killing him," she stated.

Lance quickly let her go, rushing back to his seat as he punched up the view  
screen to bring up the locations of each lion ship.

"Pidge, do you have read on the Black Lion?" Lance quickly asked.

An awkward silence fell upon Lance as he anticipated anything that Pidge  
would report.

Lance, I---I'm getting nothing, Pidge replied. Not even an energy  
reading.

"What?" Lance asked. "Hunk, Pidge, scan the area you last saw the Black  
Lion. Neive, we will scan the far side to see if he flew that way."

Lance, he wouldn't have just flown without letting us know, Neive  
stated.

Lance slowly shook his head. "Please, we have to find it," Lance stated.  
"The Triasian force set us up. They weren't here to attack Arus. They were  
here to test us."

What? Pidge replied. Why?

"To know how we work," he stated. "To see what kind of tactics we would use.  
Its the oldest military strategy known and we fell for it."

We will scout a 100 km radius from the Castle, Hunk came over the  
communications link. If we find anything, we will let you know.

"Anything out of the oridnary, whether it is a patch of forest that looks  
odd, report it," Lance stated.

Lance watched as his teammates then took off. 'How could we have been such  
fools!'

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Zeya slowly opened her eyes, realizing that she was now hanging from the  
seat she was in. The harness that she had strapped around her, kept her in  
place. It was at that momen, she realized that the Lion ship must have  
landed on its side.

As she moved, she let out a scream as she realized that her left shoulder  
started to ache. She looked down and saw that it was dislocated. With her  
free arm, she pulled on the straps that held her in, and released them. She  
fell from their hold on her, breathing in deeply as now every muscle in her  
body ached. She quickly looked around the now almost dark cockpit, wondering  
what happened. She placed her right hand to her left shoulder, and with a  
push, she popped her shoulder back into place. She bit down on her lip to  
muffle her scream, but it was painful as she tried to move around.

It was then she noticed that the small cockpit was filling with smoke and  
her breathing became harder. She worked her way toward the seat in front of  
her, hoping that the Captain was alright. She covered her nose and mouth  
with her sleeve, so that she wouldn't breathe in the gathering smoke. As she  
neared the seat, she saw that he was slumped to one side.

She pulled him free out of the seat and felt around the side hoping that a  
latch would open the top entrance to the cockpit. Her exploring paid off as  
the small door slid open and sunlight poured in. She slowly climbed out of  
the cockpit and once she found footing, was able to pull the Voltron Force  
Captain as well. She then let out a gasp, realizing that fatigue was already  
getting to her as she fell to the ground below her, but did as best as she  
could to cushion his fall.

Zeya closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, as she laid on the ground. She  
could feel her body aching as she stared at the unconscious Captain laying  
near her. She felt her eyes grow heavy, as her mind slowly thought back to  
moments before the crash. Why would the force not finish their attack,  
knowing that they had crashed. Then, she realized that it was probably no  
the intent.

She slowly moved her hand to the satchel she wore on her waist as her senses  
then became aware of a dark presence nearby. She held her breath for a  
moment, hoping that her movements would not be caught.

The unmistakable sound of footsteps neared and she closed her eyes as she  
could now feel them. She let her mind and her sense tune into her  
surroundings.

There were three of them.  
And they were armored. Thick armor, by what she could sense.  
But all armor have their weak points.

"Well, dear brother, it seems that we were able to catch two birds with one  
stone," she heard a man's voice say. "The Princess Zeya was hiding here on  
Arus."

'They were looking for me!' Zeya's consciouness nearly screamed.

"I'd be careful, if I were you, Risen," she heard another say. "Drule women  
are known to be snakes."

"Snakes?"

'This is my chance.'

Zeya opened her eyes, quickly removing a small patch from her satchel and a  
knife she normally carried. "As in, dont ever turn your back on one," she  
stated as she quickly got up, placing the patch against the man's armor, and  
whispered an incantation.

This caught the armored man off guard as the patch then started to glow and  
a bright light then surrounded him.

"What sorcery is this?"

"Armor is no match against my magic," she stated as she held out her hand  
toward him, placing it over the patch that she had just placed there.

The light intensified and soon, the man started to let out a groan as  
whatever force created by the light was now crushing him in the armor he  
wore. Zeya then brought her knife forward as she held it above her head.  
"You Triasians work in three's right?" she asked. "Let's see how well you  
work if you are one man down."

Just as she was about to bring her knife down upon the armored man, she let  
out a scream. She dropped the knife she held as she clutched her arm to  
herself. She stared down at her forearm and saw that a large knife was now  
stabbed through it.

Another man, dressed in an all red armor, approached her and roughly grabbed  
her by her hair and forced her to her knees. He ripped the small patch that  
was on the other mans armor and pushed him away.

"Is that all the tricks you have, Princess Zeya?" the man in the red armor  
asked, as he pulled tightly on her hair. "After studying under the Great  
Haggar, all that you can do is utter meaningless incancations and weild a  
petty knife?"

Tears flooded Zeya's eyes as she stared up at him. "You haven't seen what I  
can really do."

With the strength she could muster, Zeya immediately pulled herself out of  
his grasp, tearing what hair he had a grip on and brought her legs up to  
kick him as hard as she could.

This sent him backwards, losing his balance a the helmet he wore cracked.  
She then found her footing as she poised herself for another attack.

"Rolsin, this is no time to play games," Relins stated. "We should finish  
what we have come here to do."

The man in the red armor stood as he stared at her. "No one has ever touched  
me in combat before," Rolsin stated.

"Oh?" Zeya asked. "Then we will have to make sure it happens more often."

Zeya then started a charge toward him, and she watched as he readied for her  
attack. She then smiled to herself as she quickly studied him. A natural  
fighter, she recognized. The armor was the protection he needed, but her  
kick did enough damage to the helmet he wore. She knew that he would have  
the strength to defeat her in any physical fight, so she had to rely on her  
own training as a sorceress to do what she could. She figured that the  
forces that just attacked must have been ordered by these three. Rolsin,  
Relins, and Risen were the names she caught. And this Rolsin, the man who  
wore the red armor, must be the one who commanded them all.

It was all that she needed at that moment.

She continued her charge toward him, as he stood there. She then uttered an  
incantation, which caused a whirldwind of dust to surround them. The man in  
red armor just stood there. She lept to the air as she unsheathed two more  
knives from her satchel.

"Rolsin!"

A cloud of dust and dirt thickened as the whirlwind gathered much more  
strength. Relins held his brother back as the whirlwind came up and then  
subsided.

Zeya held on tightly to the knife she held, as she had embeded it hilt deep  
in the armor he wore. Her other hand which held the other knife was caught  
in his right hand, and his left held a tight grip on her neck.

"Very good, Princess, that is now two times you've been able to break past  
my defenses," she heard him say as he tightened his grip around her neck.  
"You are definitely not the coward your brother was."

Zeya could only clench her teeth as she stared up at him.  
"What...have...have you done to my brother?" she asked.

"As with any who defy me," he stated as he squeezed harder. This forced her  
to fall to her knees as she released the knife she held to grab at the hand  
that was holding her. "Im sure that he has found his way to hell now, since  
we left him on Doom before we destroyed it."

Zeya could only feel her resolve weaken as he kept his grip on her.

"We know about the sixth lion you are here to find," he stated as he held  
her. "We know about your mother, how Queen Marlena used what she learned to  
help her husband build the Voltron Lion ships. And we will make sure that we  
do everything in our power to stop them from obtaining the secrets to the  
sixth lion."

"What do you...do you know of the sixth lion?"

"Not as much as we would like to," he stated. "But, I am glad that we were  
able to find you. How ironic that you would find protection in the arms of  
your enemy."

"They were the only ones I could trust," Zeya stated as he squeezed again.

"Retrieving you, was part of our mission today," he stated as he lifted her  
up off the ground. "Now, we must finish our next part."

Zeya let out a gasp as he threw her against the Black Lion, causing her to  
scream out in pain as she fell to her knees. She breathed in deeply as the  
wound in her arm started to bleed heavily. She cradled her arm as she  
watched as he walked toward where Keith was lying on the ground.

"As soon as we are done here, we will take you back to our command ship," he  
stated. "However, I cannot let this man live. As the Captain, the Voltron  
Force will be rendered to a disadvantage if he should die."

"No!"

Zeya got to her feet as she made her way toward where Keith was lying. She  
brought her hands together as she concentrated all her energy into a spell,  
taught to her by Haggar so many years ago. She never had a reason to use it  
till now; to protect her sworn enemy against another, who would only seek to  
destroy anything that comes in his way.

"Rolsin!"

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Anala watched as the forest below the ship raced by as they made their way  
across the eastern hemisphere to where the Castle Of Lions was in Altaire.  
She hoped that their presence went unnoticed by the attacking Triasian  
Force.

"Any readings ahead?" Anala asked.

"There are two squadrons of the Garrison fighters surrounding the Castle of  
Lions," Lemille answered. "But, I only see four lion ships."

Anala's eyes widened. "Four?"

Lemille slowly nodded as she turned to Anala. "The Black Lion, its not with  
the group."

Anala balled her right hand into a fist as she watched the view screen  
before her. "We must keep radio silence if we are going to arrive without  
their knowledge," she said. "Lemille, keep scanning for the Black Lion; Im  
hoping that we haven't arrive too late."

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Zeya slowly opened her eyes; as the sun shined down on her.

She found herself lying in a green field, white flowers dancing in the light  
breeze around her. She slowly sat herself up, noticing that she was  
unharmed, not a wound on her.

'Where am I?' she thought to herself.

Laughter caught her attention as she turned toward her right. A young man  
was playing nearby with a woman, who eerily looked familiar. She smiled as  
the man handed her a bouquet of flowers that he had picked, and she  
expressed her thanks to him. Zeya slowly stood wanting to know what was  
going on.

The woman brought the flowers close to her and inhaled their scent. She  
laughed as she got to her feet and the young man followed, chasing after  
her.

"Karone!"

Zeya gasped to herself as the couple faded from her view.

"Mother?" Zeya said aloud.

She started to run after them, hoping that she would be able to catch up  
with them.

"Mother!"

She continued to run, tears forming as she tried to keep up. Though, no  
matter how hard she tried, she could not catch up to them. She ran until she  
couldn't run anymore, and collapsed when her legs could no longer carry her.  
She cried as she held herself, wishing that she could have seen her mother  
again.

"Zeya."

She gasped as she looked up, finding that grassy field she had been in,  
slowly disappeared. She was soon surrounded by a thick forest and a tall  
mountain face stood before her.

"Mythrias, once stood here, long ago," a voice from behind her stated. "It  
was here, we found our strength, found the will of Arus."

Zeya turned as a figure emerged from the shadows around her.

"You."

"I am just a whisper of whom you think I am, Zeya," the figure stated as she  
came to stand before her. "But your destiny has always been to return here."

"What is here?" Zeya asked. "Mythrias is gone! The people are gone!"

"Salvation," the woman stated. "Marlena knew that when she built the last  
lion ship."

"The sixth lion?" Zeya asked.

"As much as the Voltron Force would like to believe, Marlena only  
involvement in Voltron's creation, was as minimal at best. The Triaisans  
only think that she used the technology she learned from the in his  
construction."

"What?"

The woman smiled as she stepped toward the mountain face. "It was enough to  
throw off the suspicion," she stated. "Enough to give our enemies the wrong  
information. Clues she left behind were enough to convince others that was  
what she wanted to have them think."

"Then the sixth lion ship?"

"Was her only project she had a part in," she stated. "The Sixth Lion, is  
what will save Arus from the forces of the Triasians."

"But why have the three royalty to activate it?"

"Safety measures," she stated. "Marlena knew that the kindgoms of Arus,  
however, working together, still had their rivalry. It did not help that  
Alfor married from the Kingdom of Helena instead of Kingdom of Mythrias. But  
your mother, she did not want to marry Alfor at the time. She was in love  
with another."

"The young man I saw...who was he?"

The woman smiled. "He was the man who was given the opportunity to be one of  
the first members of the original Voltron Force," she stated. "A commoner  
from Altaire, who served for King Alfor as an attache' to Mythrias. However,  
he was chosen to be apart of the original Voltron Force, and he honored that  
position by fighting well on King Alfor's side.

"He was an honorable man, and even upon his death, he swore his undying love  
for your mother," the woman continued. "Do you, Zeya, have those that care  
for you? To fight for? That you would sacrifice your life even, to protect?"

Zeya stared at the woman. "I've sworn my life to protect those I trust and  
care for," she stated. "My life belongs to only one person."

The woman slowly nodded. "Yet, the enemy that you have sworn to fight, took  
you in, granted you asylum, and even now, one of them nearly costed his own  
life to make sure you were safe," the woman stated. "None of this matters to  
you?"

Zeya could only close her eyes. "I've learned to place your trust in those  
that have shown you their trust," she stated.

"Yet they, trust you," she stated. "They trusted you, to help them find the  
location of the Sixth Lion. Knowing that at any time, you could turn against  
them."

Zeya's eyes widened. They were more than accepting her into their lives.  
What were they thinking? Did they really trust her? Knowing that she would  
leave them as soon as she located her brother?

"This is something new to you isn't it?" the woman asked. "Something you  
have never experienced?"

The woman smiled. "Good, then you will be worthy of the task that lays  
before you."

"What do you mean?"

"Zeya, you've have always known where the Sixth Lion is hidden," the woman  
stated. "Its up to you to find it. And the only way that will happen is if  
you learn to open your heart, to those that you may not expect to be you  
friends."

"What am I to do?"

"You are the only one who posseses that answer, Zeya," she stated. "And  
until you are willing to face your inner demons, as the last hope for Arus,  
the Triasians will defeat the Voltron Force."

"My inner demons?"

"You dont have much time, Zeya," the woman stated as she started to walk  
away. "Even now, your life is in danger."

"Danger?"

Zeya then cried out in pain as she fell to her knees and the scene around  
her started to turn dark. She closed her eyes as she held herself up off the  
ground with one hand.

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"Clever girl."

Zeya opened her eyes as she stared up at the man in red armor as he stood  
over her. She then followed his gaze and saw that her spell had worked. An  
energy field had come up around Keith as she held onto his hand. It would  
deflect any physical attack against him, but the spell required that she  
used the energy of those she needed to protect to create it. That however,  
opened her up to any attack since she couldn't get enough energy to have it  
surround her as well.

"You're willing to give up your life, to protect him?"

"I find it dishonorable for anyone to attack someone who is no position to  
protect himself," she stated as she looked up at him.

"Well then, if you wish to continue our fight."

She then screamed as he grabbed her by her injured arm, trying to pull her  
to her feet. She fought against his hold as she maintained her hold and her  
spell over Keith.

She turned away from him as he fought against her, as she committed to one  
final spell. When she helped Keith initiate contact with the other members  
of the Voltron Force, she was able to explore the Captains mind and was  
surprised by what she had learned. She finally knew what had gone on before  
her arrival to Doom only a year before. That through all the trials he had  
gone through, he was more than even Lotor had even realized. But it was what  
she learned about his recent incidents that she wanted to tap into.

Ylren.

She had heard of the Vallusian god, long before she arrived to Doom, and  
thought he was only a legend. But after witnessing the events on Argos only  
9 months earlier, she finally realized that he was real. And that the  
Captain, a descendent of his bloodline, carried the spirit of this god, with  
him. But was he really gone?

She didn't have time to find out. She quickly worked her arm free and  
grabbed ahold of Keith's hand with both as she uttered her last incantation  
before the man in the red armor was able to wrestle her free.

"KEITH! WAKE UP!" she yelled as the man roughly pulled her away. "KEITH!"

As the man in the red armor pulled Zeya away from the unconscious Captain, a  
sudden stillness filled the air. Zeya gasped as she fought his hold on her.  
Then she felt something grab at her arm and as she looked up, her eyes  
widened in disbelief.

"Dont you know, that is not the way to treat a lady?"

The man in the red armor suddenly turned as his hold on Zeya weakened.

Then a sudden explosion filled the air.

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"There!"

Anala looked at the viewscreen before her. "What was that?"

"Something just exploded on that mesa," Lemille answered. "But it wasn't by  
anything mechanical or a bomb."

"What?" Anala asked. "How far are we?"

"4000 kilometers," Sendrre answered. "We will be there in ten minutes."

"Open communicatiosn with the other Lion ships once we are 1000 kilometers  
from that location," Anala stated. "Let them know that we've found the Black  
Lion and that Keith is in danger."

"Roger," Sendrre stated.

"We still can't alert the Triasians to our location," Anala stated. "We are  
unprepared for any attack by their forces."

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Rolsin was kneeling on the ground as he breathed in deeply. The armor he  
wore had cracked in several places, as he stared at the figure who stood  
only a few yards away. The Captain, stood where they had been, before a  
force suddenly threw him and his brothers back. As he ragained his  
composure, he saw that Keith was standing, holding Princess Zeya in his  
arms, as his own wings were fully extended, marking the sign of his  
Vallusian heritage. He then slowly got to his feet as he was joined by  
Relins and Risen, removing the helmet he wore and slowly peeling the broken  
armor he wore. Was that strange force that forced him away, the hidden power  
that the captain held?

"You're the second person today who has been able to touch me," he stated as  
he stared at the young Captain. "However, you are everything they've said  
you to be, Captain Hayashi."

Keith gently held Zeya against him as he held her in his arms. She was  
exhausted from her ordeal only moments before and the last spell she had  
done, took everything out of her.

"I don't know who you are, but your presence her on Arus is not welcomed,"  
Keith stated. "I suggest that you return to your ship and leave Arus as soon  
as possible."

"And for what reason, Captain?" Rolsin asked. "Planet Arus is a vital planet  
within the Galaxy Alliance. If we are able to conquer this planet, we will  
have our nail set in place to levy our influence on the Alliance itself. No,  
we will not go so easily. As with the Drule Supremacy, we will conquer the  
Galaxy Alliance and the planets within."

"You will have to defeat us first," Keith stated.

Rolsin smiled. "If that is what you want."

Keith gasped as the man then rushed forward in an attempt to attack him.  
Keith was able to dodge his attack, quickly retracting his wings as he  
readied for himself for another attack. He knew that he would have to find a  
place for Zeya to rest, if he were to confront him. He found the opportunity  
he needed as he jumped back and laid the Princess on the ground near the  
Black Lion.

"It isn't nice to attack someone when I dont even know who you are," Keith  
stated as he turned to him. "You know who I am; so who are you?"

Rolsin smiled. "All you need to know, Captain, is that I will defeat you."

Keith prepared himself as the man then circled around him. Keith recognized  
immediately that this man was indeed a fighter, and probably fought in many  
battles. Though it wasn't what he was concerned about. He was still wearing  
part of that armor he had managed to crack earlier, but that was after a  
physical attack that nearly took all of his energy to commit to.

"Now, then, all my hand to hand battles have never lasted more than 5  
minutes, Captain," he stated.

"Well, let's see if we can break that."

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 14  
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Keith studied the man who stood across from him. He knew that with an unknown enemy, he was at a disadvantage. Having not seen the stranger's fighting techniques, he had to find a way to work out what he would do, and counter any attacks the man would try to initiate.

However, Keith knew he couldn't over exert himself. The crash landing on the mesa had injured him when he was thrown against the control panel of his lion. He could feel his muscles tightening in his abdomen, meaning that he had either broken a rib or bruised an organ. Both, would mean he couldn't fight as well as he could. He hoped that the stranger would not pick up on his injury.

Rolsin smiled as he stared at the young Captain. The stance was perfect. He was at a distance that would anticipate any attack, and defend against it, and he also, if he were to, had enough time to initiate an attack move of his own.

Though, he decided that he would take the initiative. He wanted to test this man who stood before him. The man who commanded the most legendary team throughout the Galaxy Alliance. Skilled in combat, to whom Prince Lotor himself couldn't even beat. Test his own loyalty. His resolve. His devotion to this Planet and its people.

Keith watched as the man ran toward him and readied for any attack. He then reacted as the man in the armor delivered a blow as he blocked it. He then countered with a sweeping kick that connected with the attacker's abodmen, but the amor he wore protected him from the injury. Keith quickly compensated by delivering a punch to the mans face which sent him back.

As he regained his balance, Keith winced a bit as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. Rolsin smiled at him as he saw the pained expression in his opponent's eyes.

"You may have cracked my armor, captain, but unlike any other armor you're familiar with, even in this state, it remains strong," Rolsin stated. "Any more of that type of contact, and you will have your legs broken."

"All that means is I aim higher," Keith stated. "Your head is exposed to me. That's all that matters."

Rolsin smiled. "We shall see."

Rolsin attacked again, this time he targeted his attacks to strike the captain near his abdomen. Keith had to block each blow knowing that if any more injury is caused to him, he would not be able to continue to fight against him.

Keith then saw and opening in the attacks and as the man tried to deliver another punch to him, he was able to duck under him, using his leverage to support his weight on the ground as he delivered a kick to the man's head. He then used the momentum to push himself into the air, as he released his wings, to gather enough momentum to deliver another punch that sent the man toward the ground below. Keith landed on the ground as he stood and watched the man slowly sit up.

Rolsin wiped the blood that formed at his lips. He smiled, mostly to himself, seeing that the Captain was able to work in a defense using all aspects of his own talents. Using the momentum created by his wings, he had gathered enough strength to deliver a punch that felt like he had ran straight into a wall.

"Are you going to give up now?"

"You are definitely a true Vallusian, Captain," Rolsin stated. "You haven't even trained under them and yet you've been able to figure out their techniques. Im truly honored."

"So, you know of Vallis?" Keith asked.

"Under Vellum's rule, long ago, he had an alliance with Triasus," Rolsin stated as he got to his feet. "Suffice to say, we weren't happy that Kellar broke ties with us when he took over. We really were envious of that precious ore that was found there."

"I guess that was the only good thing Kellar did under his rule," Keith stated.

Rolsin smiled. "Well, Captain, its past five minutes," he stated. "I give you that you were able to beat me in that. Well, then I must put an end to this and stop playing games."

"Rolsin, that would be unfair."

Keith spied the two others who stood to the side. 'Rolsin, is it?'

"We must teach these upstarts that they have no hope in fighting us," Rolsin answered. "Thank you, Captain. It has been a pleasure."

Keith watched as the man started his charge toward him. He readied himself, but as the man approached, Rolsin disappeared in front of him. Caught off guard, he wasn't prepared as sudden blow to his side caused him to step back. Keith cradled his side as he looked up, to see the man appear just before him.

"You see, Captain," Rolsin stated as he grabbed him by his neck with his right hand. "I already know you. I know how you fight, and I know your weaknesses. I know where your loyalty lies, and I know you would do everything to protect the ones you care for."

Rolsin squeezed his neck, as he lifted Keith off the ground.

"You do not realize what you are getting yourself into," he stated as he pulled his left arm back. "Voltron will not be able to defeat us. No force in the Galaxy Alliance will be able to."

Rolsin then punched Keith hard in his stomach which sent the captain flying backwards. Keith let out a groan as he landed on his back, and slid for a few feet before he came to rest on his front. As he tried to push himself off the ground, but found his strength gone as the pain from his side and abdomen shot through him like fire.

"That crash probably injured you more than you realized, Captain," Rolsin stated as he slowly walked up to him. He then smiled. "The armor we wear is not just for our protection, but it amplifies the wearer's own strength and speed. If you continue this, you will end up being killed."

"I...I rather die...than let a monster like you, destroy my home," Keith stated as he struggled to get to his feet.

Rolsin watched as he stood, struggling with the pain and inuries he sustained. He marveled at the inner strength he held. Breathing in deeply, Rolsin smiled.

"Still going I see," he stated.

Keith breathed in deeply as he blocked all the pain he felt. He then closed his eyes as he cleared his mind. He knew that any contact by Rolsin, it would probably be his last.

Zeya slowly opened her eyes and as her vision cleared, she saw the scene before her. She gasped as she saw the man in the red armor confront Keith. She slowly got to her feet, trying to find her balance. Rolsin had the upperhand, she knew it. Keith was in no shape to continue fighting him.

"Keith! No!"

Rolsin's attention immediately turned to her, and this was the opening Keith needed. Leaping into the air, he flipped over him grabbing Rolsin from under his arms, then lifting the man into the air as he flew straight up into the air above them.

"Your armor can protect you against straight physical blows, but I wonder how much it would protect you if you fell from this height."

Keith felt him struggle in his hold and immediately let him go. They were at least a few hundred feet up and he knew the force would be enough to destroy the armor the man wore. For insurance however, Keith flapped his wings to gain speed as he caught up with the falling man. He then flipped over in the air and delivered a power kick to the man's abodmen that sent him straight to the earth below.

Zeya gasped as she watched the man in the red amor hit the ground a such speed, that he caused dirt and debris to fly everywhere. She then watched as Keith came to land just before her, but lost his balance as he nursed his left leg.

"Again, Captain, it has been a pleasure."

As the dust cleared, Keith noticed that the only thing lying in the ground before him was the armor, but Rolsin was not in it. He quickly turned around and saw that he was now standing near Zeya, as he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her toward him.

"I came here to collect her," he stated. "Having to fight you, was just an added bonus."

Keith stepped forward, but cringed when his left leg nearly gave out on him.

"Let her go!"

Rolsin's smile disappeared as he then charged toward the Captain, letting Zeya go for the moment as he delivered three punches that Keith could not block in time. With his last punch, he landed it straight into the center of his stomach, which signaled the end of this fight. He smiled as he leaned over to the Captain.

"The next time we meet, Captain, I will kill you," Rolsin stated. "And give my blessings to your mother. It has been a while since I last saw her."

Rolsin then let out a scream as he pulled back his arm. A small dagger had been thrown at him, which now laid embedded in his arm.

He looked around and saw two figures standing in the distance, wearing similar armor to that of his forces. One of the figures then rushed toward him, to encounter him in a fight. Rolsin dodged the attack as the other, came to help the Captain, before he fell to the ground.

"Risen, Relins, take the princess back to the command ship!" Rolsin yelled.

He watched as his brothers disappear from where they were standing and then appear next to Zeya. Zeya let out a scream as they grabbed her by her arms.

Rolsin then stared at the figure standing before him, and then smiled. "I thought I left you to die," he remarked.

"You should have made sure I did."

Zeya's eyes widened when she saw the man take off his helmet he wore. Tears came to her eyes when she saw that it was her brother.

"Now, let my sister go," Lotor demanded.

Rolsin smiled as he slowly stepped away, to join his brothers. "No, she has much to use to us," Rolsin stated as he pulled the dagger from his arm and threw it back toward Lotor. "Without her, the Voltron Force will be unable to find what they are looking for."

Zeya could only struggle against their hold on her. She then realized that even she went with them, she could still help them find the sixth lion ship. She quickly unfastened the armlet around her wrist and let it drop where she was standing. She hoped the clue she left in it, would be enough to help the Voltron Force figure out the last clue. The location that she had seen in her dreams. She knew that there was something to that vision that would help them find it.

"Good day, Lotor," Rolsin stated.

Before he could react, Lotor watched as they disappeared before him, Zeya letting out one final scream as she disappeared with them. He quickly turned around and saw that Anala was slowly laying her brother down on the ground, unconscious, being careful to not aggrevate any injuries he already had.

"How is he?" Lotor asked as he approached her. He slowly kneeled down to the ground.

"That last blow by that man probably injured him the most," Anala stated. "He can't even retract his wings."

Lotor slowly nodded as he retracted the armor he wore and dug through the satchel he carried. He then leaned over Keith as he ripped open his uniform top. He could already see the discoloration of bruising an internal bleeding starting to form on his lower left side of his chest.

"The crash probably injured him the most," he stated as he said as he felt around Keith's body for any more injuries. "Three broken ribs. Its a wonder how we was even able to fight that man in this condition."

"I can't heal this extensive an injury," Anala stated.

"He'll have to be looked after at the Castle of Lions," Lotor said. "Even then, recovery will be slow for this kind of damage."

"---a---anala?--"

Anala looked down as she met Keith's gaze. "---what...are you--?" his voice was strained, soft as he struggled to say anything.

"Keith," she said. "Dont move. You have multiple fractures and anything you do can aggravate them."

"---wher--where's Zeya?"

"They took her," she stated. "Sorry that we couldn't get here any sooner."

"--we?"

"Shh," Anala stated. "We'll get you back to the Castle. We radioed the others, so they should be here shortly."

Keith then winced as Lotor began to bind the area where his broken ribs were. He turned his gaze from his sister to find himself staring at the Doom Prince. Anala quickly reacted as she held him down, knowing that seeing the Doom Prince would cause Keith to move away.

"He will not hurt you," Anala said as she stared down at him. "He is here to help."

Keith could only meet her gaze as his eyes grew heavy. Whatever the reason that Lotor was here, he wasn't ready to deal with it now. The pain he felt was overwhelming, and slowly taking over his senses.

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Lance quickly found a spot to land, and immediately jumped down from his Lion as the he saw Neive land Blue in the distance. He made his way toward where the Black Lion laid and stopped as soon as he saw the scene before him. He reached for his blaster as Neive joined him.

"Lotor!" Lance yelled.

Lotor finished his bindings on the Keith as Anala met his gaze. She looked past him to see Lance and Neive standing at a distance. From their position, the scene before them probably didn't look good for them.

"Put away that blaster, Lance," Lotor said as he slowly got to his feet.

"Were you responsible for this?" Lance asked. "What did you do?"

"Offering support to your teammate!" Lotor yelled as he stepped toward the Red Lion pilot. "Why weren't you backing him up! He was shot down by the Triasian force, and none of you even noticed!"

"What do you mean support!" Lance yelled. "I'll show you support!"

Neive tried to hold Lance back, but the hot headed pilot broke out of his hold as he charged toward where Lotor was standing. Lance was then caught by surprised, when he got near, as Anala appeared before him, and with a hard punch, sent him toward the ground. Neive was quick to come to Lance's side as he helped the Red Lion Pilot recover from the attack.

Anala breathed in deeply as she stood before Lotor, staring at Lance as he met her gaze.

"Anala!" Lance yelled.

"You lay one hand on my husband, and you will be sorry, Lance," she stated. "I promised that no harm would come to him, and if it means hurting every one of you, I will."

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Rolsin walked into his room and as the door slid closed behind him, he let out a cough as he struggled to get to a nearby chair. He pulled open the shirt he wore, to see the bruising around his abdomen. He reached for the wine bottle that was on the table and took a drink from it.

"I can't believe he actually was able to break through the armor." Relins stood silent in the door to Rolsin's room as he looked at his brother. "No one has ever been able to do that before."

Rolsin stared at his brother, anger in his eyes. He took another drink from the wine bottle. "He shouldn't have been able to," he stated. "Do we have all the information concerning him?"

"As much as we were able to obtain," Relins stated. "But, there is Princess Zeya."

"What do you mean?"

"She was in contact with him, seeing the type of sorcery she used on us today, she may know more about the Captain than we do," he stated. "Rolsin, there is also something else I want to discuss with you."

"That is?"

"What we saw today, was what the Voltron Force was capable of," Relins stated as he entered the room, the door sliding closed behind him. "They were able to take out over half of our robot fighter fleet and none of them showed any signs of weakening. We've never gone up against a force of this nature before."

"What are you saying?"

"That we must turn to King Zarkon for help."

"Zarkon?" Rolsin asked. "Are you crazy?"

"I think I have something that would help us, and convince him that joining with our forces, would only strengthen his control, his power," Relins stated. "And payment for his help, he can take over one of our previously conquered planets that we have no need of."

Rolsin turned to his brother as he drank from the wine bottle again. "What is your proposal?"

"Well, it seems that Zarkons own children have turned against him," Relins stated. "Why dont we, embelish that fact a little more."

Rolsin smiled. "Yes, if we can convince Zarkon, he may be able to bring his witch with him, and we could use her powers against the Voltron Force," Rolsin stated. He slowly stood as he made his way toward his bed. "Have our forces pull out to the far side of Arus' moon. We will remain in orbit there until we can gather our forces together and replenish what has been destroyed."

"And Princess Zeya?"

"Make sure she is comfortable, for the time being," he said as he slowly laid himself on his bed. "Then when you think she is better, get as much information out of her as you can."

"And we still have yet to locate Siaras," Relins stated.

"Im sure the Voltron Force know of her traitorous actions," Rolsin stated. "They will deal with her. She is dead to us now."

Relins nodded. "Do you want me to send one of the doctors to tend to you?"

Rolsin shook his head. "Its nothing serious," he stated. "I just need some rest."

"If any of our spies run across any news concerning the Voltron Force, I will be sure to let you know as soon as possible."

Rolsin nodded as he laid down in his bed. "Relins, do not let Risen know of my injuries," he stated. "I dont want him to worry. He has always been the soft one."

Relins nodded. "Not a word," Relins stated. He then turned toward the door and it slid open for him.

"If Princess Zeya is unwilling to share any information she has, please have Amoris conduct the interrogation," Rolsin stated. "He has always been successful at that."

"Understood."

Relins slowly left his brother's room, and as the door slid closed, Rolsin closed his eyes. The images of his fight with the Captain of the Voltron Force haunted him. Never had he seen such strength, nor will from a fighter. And the more he dwelled on it, the more he wanted to see that he would have a chance to confront the Captain again.

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Dr. Gorma looked over his papers before adjusting the settings of the monitors that surrounded the bed that Keith was lying in. A heart monitor beeped as a nurse administered one last sedative for the day. Then he and she both left the room, drawing the curtains closed on their way out.

Coran and Allura waited for him as he came to stand before them.

"He's going to be fine, with a good amount of rest and recovery," Dr. Gorma stated. "He has three broken ribs, and a slight fracture in his left fibula and tibia. Slight bruising of the pancreas, though that means solid food will be hard to digest for a while. However, the attack on him was severe enough to put a strain on his heart, so any physical activities will only end up weakening him and slowing his recovery time."

"What kind of strain?" Allura asked.

"If he had taken another direct hit, by whoever attacked him today, to his chest, it would have killed him," Dr. Gorma stated. "The heart is as much as a muscle as any other in the body, and if you strain a muscle, it takes time for it to heal and repair itself. The heart is no exception. He was lucky today that whoever attacked him didn't aim directly for his chest."

Allura slowly nodded as she turned her gaze to the room Keith was in. "When can we see him?"

"Not today," Dr. Gorma stated. "I want him to rest and I dont want anyone giving him reason to not to. He's under heavy sedation, to alleviate any pain. With all the injuries he did have, its a wonder how he was able to fight off that attacker as long as he did."

"Thank you for your attention to this, Dr. Gorma," Coran stated. "We will make sure that your reccommendations are followed through."

Dr. Gorma slowly nodded. He then turned to Allura and let out a sigh. "If anything changes, Princess, I'll be sure to let you know first. He is in good hands. Trust me."

Allura turned to him, feigning a smile hoping to disguise her worry. "I know, Alan," she stated. "I know that you will do your best."

Coran cleared his throat. "Princess, there is another matter that we must tend to," he stated. "We should take care of that before a situation starts."

Allura looked at him and slowly nodded. She was actually not looking forward to doing this. Lance had told her everything when he returned to the Castle only hours before, and as much as she wanted to side with Lance on the situation, she knew that it would only alienate Queen Anala.

How do you deal with your most wanted enemy when he's married to your friend's sister?  
And it pained her to know that not even Keith knew at this moment, that she was married to Prince Lotor.

"Coran, if you dont mind, I will join you in the conference room in a short while," she stated. "If Lance isn't able to keep in line, please have the guards escort him to his room."

"Princess, it would be understandable..."

Allura slowly shook her head. "As much as we may disagree, he is now our guest, and he shall be treated as such. As long as he is married to a ruler of a Galaxy Alliance planet, he is protected under their laws now. And deserving of the respect we give to all Alliance members."

Coran slowly nodded. Before him, was no longer the timid princess that he watched over. Before him, stood a young woman, who grew into her role as the Princess of Arus, and through her own experiences had become even wiser than he was.

"I'll be sure to keep everyone in line, while we try to difuse the situation," Coran stated. "Galaxy Garrison will want to be informed of this as well."

Allura nodded. "We will deal with protocol later," she stated. "Go on, I'll be there shortly."

Dr. Gorma then cleared his throat. "If you dont mind, I have some reports to file," he stated. "Princess, Coran, good day."

"Good day, Alan," Allura stated.

As both men left the infirmary together, Allura turned toward the room that Keith was in. She slowly made her way toward the room. She quietly stood in the doorframe as she stared in. She then made her way to the bed he was lying in, as the monitors beeped at every heartbeat.

It always pained her to see him this way. And it seemed that it was always at a time, when he was protecting someone, no matter who it was, that he suffered the most.

She reached over and brushed his bangs away from his face, and she noticed the slight discoloration as the bruising caused by the fight started to form. She had always admired him for the conviction he held in battle, and sometimes his stubbornness. She had found her strength in him, the same as she had found her care free attitude from Lance, her will from Hunk and her confidant in Pidge.

As she stared down at him, she dwelled on the situation at hand. She thought more on how he would probably approach it; how to deal with it. What would he do? What do you do with the most wanted man in the universe? And the more she thought, the more she realized that this was something that she had to decided on her own. That she had to face this as the Princess of Arus. As many times as she turned to her friends for their opinions, this was a situation that she knew, she could not ask their opinions on. This was to be her decision to make.

Allura let out her breath, after realizing that she had been holding it. She looked down at Keith, before breathing in deeply. She slowly leaned over him and kissed him lightly on his forehead.

"I turned to you many times for your support," she said more to herself. "I hope that you dont hate me for the decision I must make now. It is not to hurt you, but to help all those involved."

She took his hand into her own.

"I understand why your sister did what she did," she continued. "She's fighting to defend someone she loves dearly, and it isn't my place to deny her or blame her for that. I hope that you will understand her, and the decisions she has made. Its more than I could ever do. To admit..."

She then opened her eyes, and shook her head, smiling to herself as tears had formed at her eyes. "I admire her, for what she was willing to go through, to protect him from those that would seek to harm him," she added. "I hope to one day, find that same courage, to fight for the man..."

Then with a heavy sigh, she released his hand and placed it gently at his side, and brought up the blankets to cover him. She then leaned over him one last time.

"I hope to one day, find that same courage, to fight for the man that I love," she whispered.

She then leaned her head over as she lightly kissed him on his lips. As she pulled away, she breathed in deeply before wiping the tears from her eyes, slowly turnig to head toward the door. As she neared the door to the room he was in, she turned back to where he laid.

"Even if it pains me to never admit it to you," she said to herself.

With that, Allura left the small room.

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Neive had been at the infirmary to grab supplies from the Nurse's station when he happened upon Allura as she was speaking to someone. He was about to ask her where he could find some extra gloves, but it was at that moment, he realized that she was speaking about her current predicament about Lotor and Anala, and how the Alliance would want to deal with them, to Keith, who was sleeping in the bed in front of her.

Something in him caused him to freeze. Watching her nearly spill her every thought and feeling to an unhearing audience.

And then he saw her lean over him to kiss him lightly on his forehead. Neive could not believe his eyes as he slowly backed away from the room, only to end up in the dark room across. He nearly dropped the box he was carrying, but not wanting to make a sound, he quickly placed it quietly on the ground before him and used the door to hide behind. He left it open wide enough to see what else his cousin would do.

He listened carefully, somewhat wishing that he didn't catch her at such a private moment. He had been close to Allura when he was young, but at times, he felt so distant from her. He knew that growing up sheltered as she had done, there was many things about life that she was still innocent to. And when the members of the Voltron Force arrived for the first time, it probably had shocked her to the reality of life.

He knew this was probably hard on her. She wanting to be more like them, yet bound by her duty as ruler of Arus. A title she would have shared with him, had he decided to leave the Alliance to continue his education to take on as head of the Kingdom of Helena. Something that his uncle, till this day still wants him to do.

It was something he didn't want, and he almost felt guilty that he was now placing all the burden on her. During a time now, that pressure for her to continue Alfor's legacy, played heavily on everyone's minds. Since she was the matriarch, marrying was something that was being pushed on her constantly, and her continued efforts to not find a suitable husband was wearing thin many of the high lords patience.

Yet, unbeknownst to many, Neive had already known, for a while now, that it wasn't the pressure from the high lords that weighed heavily on his cousin. He was the first to notice it, when he had visited his cousin many years ago, when the Voltron Force first arrived. He saw the admiration she had for all her team members, yet it was the advice and opinions of their commander that she held in high regard.

Her reluctance came from a deep regret, that she knew that in all her power, she had found someone that meant dearly to her. And it pained her to fight against her heart, knowing that Arusian laws would prevent such a union.

Neive closed his eyes as he heard her utter those last words before she left the room. He too, could feel the heartache she felt. He understood what it is like to find someone, yet can do nothing to be with them. His hand instinctively went to the stab wound he was given by Princess Zeya only a few days before. Now that she was gone, he felt as if something was missing from him.

He breathed in deeply as he sank to the floor, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill. "I will find a way, cousin," he said to himself. "I promise."

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	15. Chapter 15

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 15  
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Allura took in a deep breath before she stepped through the door that led to the conference room. As she walked in, she saw that Lance was in one of his heated arguments with Coran as Anala stood between them. As predicted, Lance was arguing against having Lotor even breathing in the same room as he, let alone, allowed even footing within the Castle of Lions. Her presence had gone unnoticed by them as she viewed the scene before her. Hunk and Pidge were desperately trying to get Lance to calm down, as two guards stood at the far side of the room, guarding over their captive, the woman they had come to know as Siaras. She then looked toward the opposite end of the room, to see Lotor standing quietly at one of the windows, ignoring all that was transpiring in the large room. She studied him from the door wondering, if this whole situation as as strange to him as it was to all of them. After all, he is their sworn enemy...

'Was,' her mind corrected. 'Was your enemy.'

She averted her gaze as she thought more on it, as she watched as Anala tried to get a word in between the quarreling men. Here she was defending her position, justifying her reasons, yet Lance did not want to hear any part of it. Allura could only admire the young woman, for her devotion to someone, who at one time, did not have any qualms over seeing the death of anyone on her planet; or even yet, on the Voltron Force. What did Anala do to reach him? Change him? How was she able to see past the evil that he was, to reach a part of him, that none of them ever could?

She looked toward him again, as he continued to stare out of the window. Dressed now, in clothing from Vallis, she regarded him differently now. His once unruly hair, was now neatly tied back, trimmed in some areas, but still long as she remembered it. Was this how Anala saw him?

"I won't have it, Coran!" Lance yelled, waking her out of her reverie. "We can't have our enemy freely walk these hallways as if nothing matters!"

"Lance!"

Lance quickly turned toward the door of the conference room as all eyes within came to rest on her. Allura knew she would have to deal with this situation, even it meant angering her teammates more than they already were. This was HER castle, her home, and she wasn't about to let anyone determine how she wanted to run it. Not even Coran or Lance.

"Lance, one more word out of you, I will have the guards escort you out," she said as she walked into the room. "You should know better than to take your anger out on Coran. If you want anyone to blame, you blame me."

"But Princess!"

"Lance, sit down!" she nearly yelled.

Hunk and Pidge slowly pulled Lance away from where they were standing to have him sit in a nearby chair. Hunk, kept his large hand on his shoulder, as he took a seat next to the hot headed pilot as Pidge handed a tablet over to Coran.

"We have much more important matters to discuss, than this petty bickering," she stated as her gaze came to rest on the young woman across from her. "I do not tolerate anyone who tries to play on our hospitality, and then decides to try and murder a member of my team. Do you have anything to say, Siaras?"

All eyes in the room turned toward the woman.

"I did what I came to do," she stated. "Rolsin knows about your search for the sixth lion ship. He knows that the three royals are the only ones able to activate it. And he will do everything in his power to make sure you will never be able to resurrect that lion. He has Princess Zeya in his captivity, and without her, you will never find where that ship is burried."

"And I assume that it was you, who also relayed enough information about our defense systems to have his forces test us?" Allura asked.

"Rolsin was right to believe the intel reports he received about your forces, Princess Allura," she stated. "For that, he was most impressed."

Allura only shook her head. "Siaras, as ruler of Arus, I am holding you until a full investigation can be done into your recent activities," she stated. "You, as a spy of the Triasian forces, are now under arrest. Till such time a hearing can be made to determine a suitable punishment, you will be held here, until word from the Galaxy Alliance can be heard as to how we will deal with your punishment. Till then, you will remain in our cellblock."

"Arus will be a heap of rubble before then," Siaras stated.

With a nod from Allura, the guards that were guarding Siaras, slowly pulled her to her feet and then led her out of the conference room.

"Lance, you should be happy to know that Dr. Gorma says that Keith will be fine," she stated as she met his gaze. "However, due to the extent of his injuries, I will have Neive take your place as pilot of the Red Lion, so that you are able to pilot Black. His healing will take some time, and we are in no position to leave Arus unprotected. The Beta Team will serve as backup in the Garrison Fighter ships, should the need arise, and if for any reason the Beta Team must take charge for Voltron, Iliana shall take Neive's place in Blue."

"Iliana?" Hunk asked. "She's barely had any flight time; not to mention any combat time whatsoever."

Allura slowly nodded. "I know Hunk, but she's a great pilot and strategist. I believe she will be able to handle it when the time comes."

"If I may, princess, please allow me to step up her training in the meantime," Hunk asked. "I can have Kit and the others run drills in simulation."

Allura nodded. "I trust that under your tutiledge, Hunk, she will be able to become a better pilot," she said. "If you want, you can go and see her to deliver her new assignment. If she is up to it, you can work on a schedule to ramp up her training."

Hunk nodded as he slowly stood. "I'll go ahead and workout a schedule and submit a proposal to you and Coran by the end of the day," he stated.

The door to the conference slid open again as Kit, Shane, Teri, Neive and LiAnne entered the room. Allura nodded at their presence.

"Thank you for taking time to join us," she stated. "Kit, please go with Hunk since you will be needing to work with your new teammember."

"New teammember?" Katherine asked.

"Hunk will explain it to you," she stated. "Please, go on ahead and deliver Iliana her new assignment."

Katherine nodded as Hunk came to join her. Together, they left the conference room as the others found seats around the table before them.

"As you just heard, you will be getting a new teammember," Allura stated. "Since we are one man down, Im assigning Neive to the Alpha Team, as Pilot of the Red Lion, until Keith is fully recovered. Lance will be moved to pilot Black Lion and will serve as commander during this time. I know this will be awkward at first, but we do not know what kind of tactics this new enemy uses, and I want to be prepared for anything they may have in mind. Till then, Coran will be assigning you new shifts for watch assignments. Shane continue helping Neive in translating the last few entries in my mother's journals. See if there is anything that she left behind as clues to where the sixth lion may be burried. Without Zeya, we will have to rely on our own research to locate it."

Shane slowly nodded.

Allura then turned her gaze to Lance. "Lance, I am entrusting you to put whatever feelings you have aside on this," she stated. "I need your cooperation, and your guidance. You are now in charge of the team, and I want to know that I can trust you not to make irrational decisions. Your duty is to ensure the safety of Planet Arus and my people. I expect no less from you. Please do not make me feel that my decision to have you pilot the Black Lion, one that I would regret. I know you, and I know you will do that position justice."

Lance could only meet her gaze, then slowly turn away. "I apologize for my outburst earlier," he stated as he slowly stood. "And I thank you for your trust in me, Princess."

"I've never doubted you, Lance," she stated.

"If it is alright, may I leave to start on my duties?" he asked.

"Since you were taking on some of Coran's job, you will no longer need to do so," Allura stated. "Coran will do as much as he can in the time being. I want your full devotion to working out a way to confront the Triasian forces. When Keith is well enough, Im sure you can consult with him on your ideas."

Lance slowly nodded. "Thank you."

Allura nodded and then watched as he quietly left the room. She then turned to the others. "Coran has your assignments, so you are dismissed," she stated. "Neive, please stay back."

Allura then turned to Anala. "If its alright with you, Anala, I wish to speak with Lotor," she stated.

Anala met Allura's gaze and then nodded. "I understand," she said. "Lemille and Sendre will be joining us shortly, with the information they've gathered. Im sure their knowledge on the Triasian forces will be helpful to you."

Allura nodded. "I will speak with you later, on that," she stated.

The room slowly emptied as Coran was the last to leave, the sloor slid closed behind them. Allura met Neive's gaze as he sat solemnly at the conference table, his arms crossed. He then turned away as his gaze fell on the man who had remained quiet through the entire meeting.

Allura closed her eyes for the moment, trying to muster enough courage to even find herself able to confront him.

"You've grown into your role as Princess, Allura."

Allura opened her eyes at the sound of his voice. The voice she has so long feared...hated. She looked up to see that he was now facing her, his arms crossed in front of him.

"Im not a scared little girl anymore," she stated. "And I can only thank my friends who helped me grow into the woman I am now."

Lotor smiled to himself before turning to the young man who remained. "So you must be Prince Neive of Helena?" he asked. He then laughed to himself when he saw the young man's expression. "Dont be so surprised, Neive. I know everything about your heritage and your birthright. Your father was a valiant soldier under the command of King Alfor."

Neive didn't answer. All he could do was stare at the Doom Prince. Allura noticed the pensive expression on her cousin, and taking a deep breath, she knew that whatever ill will she may have toward him, she could no hold it against him. She could see that something was different; that somehow Anala had touched apart of him that changed him.

"Lotor, as hard as a decision it was for me to make, I have extended the asylum I have given your sister here on Arus, to protect you from any harm that may come to you, because of what you have done in the past," Allura stated. "Because of our alliance with Vallis, and my trust that I have in Anala, I trust her that for whatever reason, she has placed her life; her own trust in you.

"However, this does not protect you from the any legal precidence that the Galaxy Alliance may have against you," she warned. "And we will do everything in our power; I will do everything in my power to help Anala provide you with the defense needed to clear your name. The actions you have displayed today, shall be used to help you, should the need arise. Your arrival on Arus, and your timely care to my teammate, ultimately helped to save his life, and for that I can only offer my thanks."

Lotor looked at her. How much she had changed. This was no longer the girl he had been infatuated with, but a young woman who carried the burden of her rule entirely on her shoulders.

"Take it as one step closer to making amends for what I have done," he stated. "And it will be a long road in doing so."

"If we work together, Im sure we can make that journey a short one," she stated.

"A question for you, Princess."

"That is?"

"You stated that Princess Zeya was a key to help finding this sixth lion," he said. "Why?"

"She is the daughter of Princess Karone, the last survivor of the Kingdom of Mythrias," Allura stated. "My mother..." She hesitated for a moment as she looked to him. Could she fully trust him? "My mother hid several clues through her journals, and one of those clues indicated that the Sixth Lion would only be found if all three descendants of the three Kingdoms were brought together, the location of this lion will be shown to us."

"I assume it also has to do with the armlets you both are wearing now."

Allura looked down at the silver armlet she wore. She slowly nodded. "Without Zeya's armlet, we have no way of finding where the Lion ship is hidden," she said.

"Do you think it can work without her help?"

"I dont know," she stated. "If we had her armlet, we could try."

"If this Lion ship is found, will you be able to fight against the Triasian forces?"

"If it is as powerful as a weapon my mother has described, it should help us," she said. "I can only hope that we can use it to help us fend off their forces."

Lotor slowly nodded as he then proceeded to pull off the shoulder bag he wore. He opened the small bag and pulled out the silver armlet he had found where Zeya had been standing before she disappeared with the three Triasian brothers.

"It seems that Zeya was able to figure out something about the location of the sixth lion," he stated as he held the armlet toward her. "There is something inscribed on this, that I can not understand."

Neive stood from where he was sitting and followed his cousin as they came to stand before the Doom Prince. Allura looked over the armlet, recognizing the royal seal of Mythrias etched into it. On the side, however was a series of Arusian glyphs.

"Neive," Allura stated as she handed the armlet to him. "What do these say?"

"They're numbers," he said. "Strange, though. They seem random."

"What kind of numbers."

"This first line, is 143, 23, 0, 34", he stated. "This one is 25, 17, 46, 30."

"What can these numbers mean?" Allura asked herself. She then breathed in deeply. "They're coordinates."

Neive studied the numbers again. "Yes," he stated. "These coordinates would put this in the heart of Mythrias."

"But where?"

"I'll have to talk to Shane and Lance," Neive stated. "But I have a feeling that I do know where this is, and it makes perfect sense."

Allura nodded. "Take this to the control room, and I will meet you there in a few minutes," she stated. "Have Lance also find any recent scans of where this is located. I want to be sure we are on the right track."

Neive slowly nodded, though he then turned to Lotor. "We may have never fought each other, Prince Lotor, but I do look forward in fighting along side you," he stated as he held out his hand to him. "Please, accept my offer of friendship."

Allura watched as her cousin exchanged a handshake before leaving the conference room. She marveled at how Neive suddenly changed his demeanor toward the Doom Prince. How did Neive suddenly become so trusting of him? As the door slid closed behind him, and awkward silence fell on them.

She quickly turned to him and in taking a step back, she said, "I had the castle servants prepare you and Anala a room here. You are welcomed to go anywhere in the Castle, save for any high security areas, in which you must be accompanied by a guard or one of the Voltron Force members; Alpha or Beta. If there is..."

Allura was then caught by surprised when he grabbed her by her hand and pulled her against him, as he took her into a deep kiss. She breathed in deeply as she placed her free hand against him, but could not find the strength to push herself away. As the kiss came to an end, she could only stare up at him, questioning in her eyes.

"I know you heart belongs to another," he said in a whisper. "I've always known that as long as he was at your side, I would never be someone you could care for. Out of my own jealousy, I knew that as long as he was there, I would never have you, but I would not accept it. Don't let him slip away, Allura of Arus. I found my future, in someone who saw through the hurt that I had experienced in my life, to blindly follow someone who I thought could make me the man I thought I could be. She saw through it and made me whole again. My love for you was genuine at the time, and I dont want to see you make the same mistakes that I have. Do not drive away those you care for, and as long as you have faith in him, he will be there for you always."

Allura continued to stare at him as he slowly released her hand and walked away. Her hand slowly went to her lips as she thought about that kiss, and the words he had just spoken to her. As the door to the room slid closed behind him, Allura could only fall to her knees as she held herself.

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Anala had stood quietly in the doorway, returning to the conference room once she felt that enough time has passed, and nodded to Neive as he passed her. She stared into the room as she watched as Allura slowly move away from Lotor, knowing that the situation was still uncomfortable for the princess.

She then watched as he pulled the princess into his embrace and kiss her fully. Anala knew that his love for Allura was something he could not totally let go of, and she couldn't blame Allura for that. She knew that Lotor was now loyal to her and that he had something to live for. She smiled inwardly, as she turned to leave the conference room. She was happy that she was able to bring about a change in him, for the better; and that he was making an effort to make amends for the mistakes he made in his past. As the door slid closed behind her, Anala decided to make her way to the Control Room so she could send a message to her mother and to check on how Reece was doing. She stopped a little ways down the hall as she turned back to the conference room. She then breathed in deeply as she continued her way toward the Control Room.

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Zeya let out a scream as she was thrown against the steel wall of the cell she was in. She fell to her knees as she coughed, tears edging at her eyes as she braced herself against the wall and the ground. Water was then thrown on her, as she looked up at the man who stood before her.

She breathed in deeply as he came to kneel before her, roughly taking her face into his hard hand and forcing her to look at him.

"Now, are you ready to cooperate with us?" he asked.

Zeya pulled her head away as she swung her arm to hit him. He only laughed as he blocked the attempt and then with his open hand, slapped her which caused her head to hit the nearby wall. He then grabbed her by her hair as he pulled her to sit up. Zeya cried as she tried to grab at the hands that held her.

"Maybe I should just skin this hair off your head," the man commented. "Seems like you Doom royalty love to grow this shag as long as you can."

Zeya screamed as he tugged at her again, dragging her until she was now in the center of the cell. He then released her as he brought her arms together and bound them by her wrists. She then watched as he pulled a hook down from the ceiling of the room and hooked the binding on it, and it lifted her off the ground. She struggled against the bindings as she was lifted off the ground.

"Still not talking, huh?" the man stated as he circled around her, pulling a knife from the sheath on his waist. He smiled as he held it against her, the cold steel touching the skin on her neck. He slowly traced the tip of the knife across her neck, and down her collar.

"I warn you now, if you dont start talking with us, the pain will only get worse," he stated. "I could make this all go away if you just cooperate."

Zeya gulped hard as he held the knife against her neck. She then stared at him, as she spat in his face.

"Your choice, young lady," he stated as he walked behind her and used the knife to tear open the back of the bodice and shirt she wore.

She then let out a scream as the sudden stings of several whip lashes could be felt across her back. She closed her eyes as her body arched against each lash, biting her lip so she could not cocentrate on the seering pain she was now experiencing.

It seemed like hours had passed as the man continued to lash her. Zeya gave up screaming as it seemed that it only encouraged him to striker her harder. Her back was in pain and her head lulled backwards everytime he lashed her. She then noticed that the lashing had stopped when she felt another presences had entered the cell. Her head fell forward and that was when she saw that is was the man the men of this ship called Rolsin.

"Anything from her yet, Amoris?" Rolsin asked as he came to stand before her.

Sweat soaked hair stuck to Zeya's face as she looked at him with her cold eyes.

"She has not said a word since you had her brought to me, milord," Amoris stated. "However, she does have a nice scream."

"Sometimes I feel you enjoy this all too much, Amoris," Rolsin stated as he walked around her. He then came to stand before her, turning her head by her chin as she met his gaze. "Princess Zeya, you can stop the charade now. Amoris is one of my best interrogation officers aboard this ship, and I really do not want you to go through any more of this."

Zeya pulled her head out of his hold as she continued to stare at him.

"Go...to...hell..."

Rolsin smiled as he looked at her. "So she does speak," he stated. "What is the Voltron Force doing to find this Sixth Lion ship?"

Zeya just continued to stare at him. A signal from him, gave Amoris the reason to lash her again. Zeya screamed as the pain seared through her back.

Rolsin then turned her to him. "What is the Voltron Force doing to find this Sixth Lion ship?"

"They need the three armlets in order to find the lion ship," Zeya said. "Without all three, they have to resort to finding it on their own, and even then, it cannot be activated."

"Why is that?"

Zeya shook her head and another signal from Rolsin gave her another lashing from Amoris.

"Why can't the Lion ship be activated?"

"Because, it needs the presense of all three descendants of the three kingdoms of Arus in order to do so," she stated. "I am the third descendant."

Rolsin slowly nodded. "So why do you help them in trying to find this lion ship?" he asked. "They are, after all your sworn enemy."

With another non-answer from her, another lashing was ordered. Zeya cried out as she closed her eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to spill.

"I do so because I owe them my life," she stated. "Because they've shown me that they could even trust someone, who was their enemy."

Rolsin smiled. "So you turn your back on your father and all that he has done?" he asked.

Zeya screamed again when Amoris lashed her a couple more times. "My father, killed my mother," she said. "The same as he killed Lotor's mother. I realize now, who is my real enemy."

Rolsin laughed as he stared at her. He gave a signal to Amoris and she suddenly felt herself be lowered to the ground. Zeya winced in pain as the hook still kept her hands up, keeping her upright.

"So you throw away everything that he has given you, for a life as a fugitive from the Galaxy Alliance?"

"I would rather live my life as a fugitive than to ever hear another lie from my father," she said.

Rolsin then walked up to her as he grabbed her by her hair and forced her to look toward the cel door. Zeya's eyes widened as she noticed the Koba standing on the other side of the bars. Her gaze then traveled up to see Haggar standing behind the unmistakable form of King Zarkon.

"See Zarkon, even your own daughter has turned against you," Rolsin stated. "Now, what do you think we should do with her?"

"Kill her, if you must." Zarkon stated. "I no longer have a daughter."

Zeya's eyes widened as she was then pulled up by the hook again. She then yelled out as Amoris continued in whipping her. Rolsin could only smile as she reacted to each whip, seeing that her resolve was now slowly being torn away.

"Do you wish to cooperate with us?" Rolsin asked as Amoris whipped her again. "I can have him stop, if you just say that you will."

"There's nothing more I can tell you," Zeya stated. She let out a scream again as she was whipped again.

"OH, there's more that I need to know," Rolsin said. "And I know that you have the information I need."

Zeya winced as she was whipped three more times. "Whatever it is, you will never get it from me."

Rolsin could only shake his head. "Then, so be it," he stated. He then turned to Amoris.

"Continue until she gives up, or falls uncscious," he stated. "If she does the latter, wake her up and continue again."

"Milord, she's already lasted longer than most men have," Amoris stated. "I dont think she is going to say anything more."

Rolsin turned to her. "Dont you know, Amoris, you continue to beat a dog until it either obeys you, or until it gives up in biting you," he said. "She will break."

"I could have my men have their way with her," Amoris suggested. "That usually softens up the women real fast."

"No, she is to remain untouched," Rolsin stated. "When she passes out for a tenth time, release her and have her brought to my quarters. Im sure by then, she will have a loose toungue."

"Aye milord," Amoris stated. "I'll send word to you."

Rolsin nodded as he slowly exited the small cell. He then turned to King Zarkon as his witch glared at him.

"If I do have your help, Zarkon, I promise to let you have any planet under my control," Rolsin stated as he turned to the old king. "As long as I have your promise that I will deal with your daughter and your son as I see fit. In fact, when we do take over Arus, you can have that pitiful planet and have Princess Allura as slave under your rule."

"You have your work cut out for you, Lord Rolsin," King Zarkon stated as he turned to watch the man whip Zeya again. "The Voltron Force is a force I wouldn't just ignore completely."

"As long as I have your help, Im sure together, we can find a way to defeat them," Rolsin stated. "I will even allow your witch access to any technology we have to help her create her monsters; under carefule watch that is."

"Rolsin, if you do encounter my son, I have only one request."

"That is?"

"When you do break him, I want him to be brought before me so that I can deal with him personally."

Rolsin smiled. "And what of his wife?" he asked. "After all, she is partly responsible for..."

"The only thing I want from her, is her son," he stated. "Bring me her child. It will be all the payment I need."

Rolsin nodded. "My servants shall show you to your new accomodations," he stated. "Haggar, if you wish to start now, I can have them take you to a room set up to be your new laboratory."

"If you dont mind, milord," Haggar's raspy voice echoed. "I would like to stay behind until your man is done with my protege."

Rolsin regarded her for a moment. "As you wish," he stated.

Rolsin then nodded as he signaled for a guard to escor the king from the cellblock to new quarters. He turned to the cel as he heard another scream from the young princess. He knew Amoris would break her, sooner or later. And she would be his to do with as he pleased.

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	16. Chapter 16

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 16  
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Neive followed Shane into the Castle's library as they searche the shelves for books concerning Arus' books on Mythrias. As Shane looked among the old tomes, he found himself wandering among the books written by the elders and past kings of Altaire, Helena and Mythrias. He quickly scanned the titles, making note of who wrote them and what they were about.

One book, however, caught his attention and he slowly reached up to remove it from its shelf. Carefully, he opened the old tome and quickly scanned the pages, written in Arusian for any information he could find concerning the old laws that governed the three Kingdoms.

He knew that the laws were fashioned to maintain the peace between the three kingdoms, with Altaire being delegated as the main kingdom of Arus. To prevent quarreling among the three, laws had been formed, so that the bloodline and heritage could solely remain within each royal family, but there were times when exceptions were made when a royalty did not produce heirs to seceede to the throne. If all three kingdoms had only daughters, then they were allowed to find a suitor among the high lords of the kingdoms; preferably within their own.

That was how his mother married his father.

Though, as with the royal bloodline, the High Lords themselves were careful not to marry their children off to commoners, in hopes that should there be a time, their own children could...would be chosen to marry into the royal family. Neive knew it was selfish, but understood why the rich heritage was so important to the different kingdoms. It was to ensure that the legacy of each kingdom would prosper. Now, marrying into Altaire's royal family, was considered an achievement on everyone's part.

He somewhat smiled to himself at the thought. If Orla wasn't Marlena's sister, and he Allura's cousin, he would have probably found himself being groomed to be Allura's betrothed. He shook his head at the thought. Allura was too much of an older sister to him than anything else. And he shared the same predicament as she.

Even if he were to give up his controlling rule to her, he was still in a role to find a suitable wife, because of his duty to carry on the legacy of his own family, and his uncle was more than doing his part to remind him of that fact. In a few short years, he would have to go through his coronation, and at that time, he would give up his role as part ruler of Arus, to his cousin, and Helena would only be a kingdom to rule on its own, and observe all laws as handed down by Allura as ruler of Altaire.

It still didn't absolve him of the fact that he was still a Prince himself. And even on his most recent trip home to Helena, his uncle was there to introduce him to many of the available daughters of the High Lords, hoping he would find an interest in one of them.

Was this how Allura felt when Coran and Nanny used to show her off to any visting dignitary?

Yet, he knew that there must be an exception to their old laws, if Coran and Nanny were trying to get Allura to recognize Prince's from other planets as worthy suitors for her hand in marriage.

But what was it? Were they allowed to find suitors if none on Arus were available?

He didn't want to confront Coran as of yet, to ask, so he came to the library in search of any answer he could find.

"Neive, I found an old topography map..."

Neive looked up as Shane came down the section he was in.

"What are you reading?" Shane asked as he quickly glanced over the book Neive had in his hands.

"Some old Arusian laws," Neive stated. "Kind of a personal project."

Shane slowly nodded, before dismissing it. "Well, this old map here gives a detailed description and imaging of the are where Mythrias once stood," he continued. "Those coordinate you gave us, well according to this map, there is a high mountain located here."

Shane opened to book to show Neive the area he was describing. "The funny thing is, this mountain didn't exist in another map done only a year earlier."

Shane flipped the page to show and older map of the same region.

"Shane, I think we may have found what we were looking for," Neive stated with a smile. "Let's show this to Allura."

Shane nodded and watched as Neive closed the book he was carry and tucking it under his arm. He met his teammates gaze.

"You know, if you wanted to know more about Arusian law, I could have helped you on that," Shane stated.

"How is that?"

"My uncle is an authority on the laws here," he stated. "He helped write many of them during Alfor's time."

"But, Shane, you're not from here."

"My uncle and mother are Arusian," Shane stressed as he started to walk away. "His sister, my mother moved to Pelas IV when she wanted to train for the Galaxy Alliance Academy. It was then she dropped out because she married my father. Why do you think I understand some Arusian?"

"And you didn't tell us this?" Neive asked.

"No one asked," he stated. He then turned and regarded his teammate. "So what laws did you want to know about?"

Neive looked away from him for a moment. "The old betrothment laws," he stated. "The laws that dictate whom the royalty can marry."

Shane slowly nodded. "Ah," he stated. "Well, assuming that this concerns... you, then Im sure that my Uncle will know in detail of such laws...and of course any...loopholes."

Neive turned to him. "Loopholes?"

Shane slowly nodded. "As with any rules in place, Neive, there's always a loophole to be found and of course exploited," he said. "So, um, why the sudden interest?"

"Something personal," Neive stated.

"It wouldn't have to do anything with a certain white haired princess?" Shane inquired.

"That is, none of your business," Neive said as he glared at the young man.

Shane shrugged. "I can send a message to my uncle, now if you want," he said. "Im sure he'll be more than willing to come and visit us."

"If he isn't busy, and we aren't busy in what we are doing," Neive stated. "Remember, this is just a personal project of mines. We do have to worry about other things."

Shane nodded. "I'll be sure to let him know that it isn't imperitive that he get here soon, that should he be in the area, just stop by," Shane said. "Fine?"

Neive nodded. "Till then, Im just gonna brush up on some of these laws," he said. "Just reading a few of these, I hadn't realized there were so many that I didn't know about."

Shane smiled. "Some of them are so outdated, that you'd wonder why they are even still used," he said.

"Well, I will have to talk to Allura about seeing that some of these laws get updated, or at least abolished," Neive stated. "I mean look at this; a farmer is supposed to be taxed if they do not at least produce 1 head of cattle in the harvest season, otherwise, they must make up for it by offering 2 tons of wheat, or their tax would be 10 of their gross yield for the year. If they are to meet the requirements, then their tax would only be 2 of the their gross yield for the year. Who the heck came up with this?"

Shane nodded. "Wait till you get into the section about fining those who commit crimes," he said. "Its pretty...archaeic."

Neive shook his head. "And a society is supposed to be judged by the laws that they observe and use," he stated. "Im seriously thinking that I should sit down with Allura to go over some of these."

Shane smiled. "Come on, all this talk about laws is making my stomach turn," he said. "Let's just show this map to Allura, and maybe locate this Sixth Lion."

Neive nodded and then followed his young teammate out of the library.

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Zeya's head hung low as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She cringed every time she felt the sting of the whip across her back, hearing Amoris grumble about how long he had to spend to get her to talk.

Her vision was hazy, and she felt weak, but she knew that she wasn't going to give in to anyone. Not for any reason. She would not pass out, so that he could just find a reason to torture her again.

"Your efforts are commendable, Amoris," she heard a voice echo through the cell she was in. "But if there is anything I've taught my protege, its never to give into the will of a man."

Zeya slowly lifted her head as she tried to focus on the voice. She recognized the dark hooded form of her former teacher.

"What do you know, witch?" Amoris stated as he went to raise his arm again.

"If its information your master wants, I can get that information for you."

"How would you."

"Listen to Haggar, Amoris, since you've been unable to loosen her toungue, maybe she is able to succeed."

Zeya's head flinched up as she saw Rolsin' dark figure fill the Cell door. He was probably here, wondering why it was taking Amoris, longer than expected to get her to talk.

The man who had been torturing her stepped aside as the witch came to stand before Zeya. The young princess could only stare at the woman before her.

"So, what kind of information did you need?" Haggar asked.

"I want whatever there is to know about the activities of the Voltron Force," Rolsin stated. "What she knows about the Sixth Lion. And anything pertaining to their Voltron Captain."

Zeya's eyes widened at the mention of him. And with Haggar standing before her, she knew that the witch would be able to pull that information from her easily. When she performed the connection for Keith to speak to the others on his team, she had open access to everything about him. What had she done?

"Is that all?"

Rolsin slowly nodded. "Im sure there is more that I need, but if I do, I know whom to turn to."

"As you wish," Haggar stated.

Zeya tried to struggle against the bonds holding her hands together, to try and move away from the witch. All in vain however as Haggar stretched out her bony hand and covered Zeya's forehead with it. The princess then let out a scream as a sudden shock was sent through her. With one final gasp, Zeya felt her mind go blank and the strength she had leave her. As her head fell forward, she felt the herself being lowered to the ground and the searing pain she was feeling, began numbing her senses.

"Clean her up, and take her to my quarters," she heard a voice in the background.

"Sire, now that you have what you need, I would like to start on my new projects to help your forces."

"So be it, Haggar, and I thank you for your help."

Zeya could only breathe in deeply as her eyes grew heavy. She felt herself being picked up roughly, and a bright light filler her vision. Though, she could not help but feel exhausted and tired, she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.

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Zeya slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry, but she knew that she was in a dimly lit room. She could feel her muscles ache, even as she breathed in deeply.

She then let out a gasp as she quickly sat up, pulling the covers tight against her as she looked around. She looked herself over seeing that she was wearing a loose dress, which was only held together by a thin rope belt. She felt almost naked, and hating that feeling, she held the covers closer to her.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim room. She slowly moved off the bed she was in, finding little strength in her legs. Her balance was a little shaky, but once she found her footing, she made her way across the room to the door at the far end.

Just as she neared it, the door then slid open and she backed up when she saw the three brothers slowly enter. Her eyes met each of their gazes as her legs gave way and she fell to the ground.

"It looks like she finally got up, Rolsin."

Zeya's gaze then turned to Rolsin, who out of the three brothers was standing the furthest from her.

"Whatever spell Haggar used on you, Princess, you've been out for at least two days," Rolsin stated. "Risen, Relins, I will continue our discussion later. Risen, since you're ready to go, you can conduct your plan accordingly. Report back to me when you are done."

The other two slowly bowed before leaving the room. Zeya slowly pulled herself along the floor as he approached her.

"Now, now princess," he stated as he grabbed her by her arm and pulled her to her feet. She struggled against him as he lifted her into his arms and laid her back down on the bed.

"Let me go!" she yelled as she fought against him. She clutched the blankets to her as she drew back her hand to slap him.

Rolsin only smiled as he caught her arm and twisted it toward her back, pinning her against him. Zeya winced in pain, and she breathed in deeply.

"Do you honestly think that you could hurt me?" he asked. "In your condition, Im surprised that can even lift your head."

Rolsin then released her as he moved away from the bed and walked over to the far side of the room. Zeya breathed in deeply, as her vision began to spin, trying to hold herself up.

"As I remember it, I hurt you at least one time," Zeya said almost breathlessly. "And I would do it again if necessary."

Rolsin only smiled to himself as he stood at the bar and poured two glasses of wine from his collection. In one, he opened a small flask and poured a green liquid, and swirled the wine around till it was gone.

He then turned to her as he walked over to his bed and handed her the glass.

"This should help you calm your nerves," he stated. "A wine from my home planet."

Zeya felt like slapping the glass from his hands, but she knew she needed something to dull the pain she felt. She reluctantly took the glass and drank half of it before breathing again.

"Why am I here?" she asked as she looked toward him. "You have the information you needed from me."

"Well, after learning what your role is in trying to find Arus' last defensive weapon, I surely cannot just let you go," Rolsin stated as he drank the wine from his glass. "But, I did want to thank you for the information you had on their Captain. It was most intriguing."

"You know that you can't defeat him," Zeya said as she finished off her glass. She then smiled as she regarded him. "You are actually afraid of him, aren't you. You've never encountered any one invidual in battle that had been able to match you in a fight."

"I just call it a stroke of luck," Rolsin stated as he placed his glass down on the table before him and stood. "It wont happen a second time."

Zeya moved across the bed, clutching the covers against her as he neared the bed. She then hit the glass she held in her hand against the wall and held the broken goblet in front of her.

"Dont come near me," she stated.

Rolsin only smiled as he grabbed her arm which held the glass, and squeezed it until she let go of it. She then gasped as he lifted her off the bed then pulled her until she was prone, as he pinned her to the soft matress. Zeya fought against his hold on her, as he got onto the bed to hold her in place. She then relaxed as she started to breathe in deeply, a sudden warmth filling her being.

"Ah, even the likes of you can fall to the effects of Nebris," Rolsin stated as he eased his hold on her.

Zeya could not understand the warmth she was feeling. She felt dizzy, yet euphoric. Suddenly, she could feel her senses come alive, as her body tingled from within.

She then felt herself being pulled up as her gaze met his, his fingers dancing across the bare skin around her neck and down her arm. Her skin felt like fire everywhere he touched her. She then closed her eyes as she felt his lips touch her neck, nipping at the tender flesh under her ear.

"Ever since I saw you, I knew I had to have you," he whispered in her ear. "And now that you are here, you will be mine forever."

Zeya could only close her eyes as she felt herself succumb to the sensations her body was experiencing. She could not form a coherent thought, but just relish the in the feelings that her body betrayed.

As she felt herself pushed down onto the matress again, she felt his warm lips brush over her exposed shoulder. She then felt his hands wander down her body. Her mind screamed, almost repulsed by his touch on her. She wanted so much to get away from him.

Zeya's head then turned as the door to the room slid open and a figure in a dark cloak entered the room. Rolsin quickly reacted to the figure's presence, but the dark figure was quick to confront him and she watched as he rendered the young lord unconscious.

The dark figure approached her, quickly wrapping the blankets around her.

"The bastard," was all the comment he heard from him as he took her into his arms and carried her out of the room. "He gave you the Nebris."

Zeya could not understand but he pulled the blanket over her, and covered part of her head with it. She could only make out the passing of lights as he carried her down a long hallway.

Her mind was numb, barely comprehending what was going on around her. All she knew was that her head was spinning, her back ached, and her senses were alert to everything around her.

She then felt herself being placed in a metal chair as the audible sound of a ships door. The man in the dark cloak came to stand before her, careful to not show her his face.

"You may not understand what is happening to you, Princess Zeya, but the Nebris is a powerful aphrodesiac," she heard him say. "You must pardon me while I cover your eyes, because if you look upon the first man you see, you will succumb to its effects. Im not sure how much Rolsin gave you, but it usually lasts a couple of days."

Zeya could only breathe in deeply as she closed her eyes. She was so tired, she knew that she couldn't fight the exhaustion that threatened to take her.

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Neive looked up the face of the mountain as he stared up into the sky. He slowly made his way around as he looked for anythign out of the ordinary.

"I dont know, Kit, but all my sensors say that this is a mountain," Neive said into his communicator.

Well according to these two maps, there is no way a mountain of that size can just appear after one year, Kit answered. Have you heard anything from Shane?

"No," Neive answered. "I think he's as confused about this as I am."

I guess that test our theories then, Kit replied. Return to the Castle, and we will try it with all three armlets. Allura just wanted to be sure that this was the correct are, and the coordinates given suggests that.

Neive slowly nodded. "I should be back at the Castle in ten minutes," Neive stated. "Let Shane know that we are returning."

I will.

Neive looked at the mountainside again, before turning to walk back toward his Lion ship. He then stopped as he saw a dark figure standing before him.

"I trust that you are one of the Voltron Force members?"

Neive watched as the man approached him. Neive saw that there was someone bundled in a swath of blankets in his arms.

"Keep her eyes covered for the next few days," the man stated. "She needs her rest."

Neive slowly nodded as he handed the bundle to him and he gasped when he saw that it was Princess Zeya. As he looked up again, he saw that the man was gone. Neive turned to the woman he held in his arms, as she slept silently. He slowly made his way to his Lion before returning to the Castle.

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"So, you're saying that some man appeared before you, and just handed her over to you?"

Neive slowly nodded as he met Katherine's gaze. "And just as quick as he appeared, he disappeared," he stated. "Did you detect any ships in the area we were in?"

Katherine turned to Pidge as the young man shook his head. "If he did, he came in undetected," he answered. "Just to let you know, Dr. Gorma has examined her, and she is doing well. However, it is apparent that she was tortured while in captivity."

"Tortured?" Katherine asked.

Pidge slowly nodded. "One of her wrists was broken and there were over a hundred whip marks across her back," he said. "Of course, all of it will heal over time, but he's not sure how it has affected her."

"Do you think we can visit her?" Neive asked.

Katherine turned to him.

"Gorma says that its fine, since you all may want to check in on Keith as well," Pidge stated. "He finally woke not long ago, while you guys were on patrol. The others have already gone down to see him, so you two are left."

Katherine stood as she joined Neive and took his hand into hers. "Thanks, Pidge," she stated as she started to pull him toward the control room door. "We'll be sure to hand in our reports later today."

Neive looked at Katherine once they were walking down the hallway toward the infirmary.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dont you find it suspicious that someone would all of a sudden, just bring Zeya back to us," she asked.

"Didn't Siaras tell us that there was a rebel force forming among the Triasian force?" Neive asked.

"But remember, she turned tail on us, and almost murdered Lance," Kit answered.

Neive slowly shook his head as he followed her down the hall. "Maybe she was telling the truth to an extent," he stated. "Maybe three are some dissidents among the Triasian force. If that is the case, then maybe we can reach out to them and have them help us."

Katherine looked at him. "Maybe," she stated. "We'll run this by Lance later."

Neive nodded. "Now that the three of us are here, we can get back to finding that damned lion."

Katherine could only breathe in deeply. "I just hope that we aren't doing this all for nothing," she stated. "It would be a cruel joke on us, if this lion didn't exist."

"I believe it does," Neive stated. "And we all have to believe it does."

"Otherwise, there is no hope in trying to fight off this new force?" Katherine asked. "You're scared of that aren't you?"

"Arus is my home, Kit," he stated. "I fear for everyone if we can't fight this enemy off."

Katherine slowly nodded. "Then I will pray that our answers can be found soon."

tbc  
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	17. Chapter 17

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 17  
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Dusk had already settled on Arus, and the atmosphere in the Castle of Lions was as tense as ever. Shane and Neive spent most of the day after meeting with Lance and filling Keith on the ongoings, pouring through the topography maps to figure out the strange mountain that appeared in Mythrias. For all that Neive knew, that mountain had always been there, but scans of the area, showed that it definitely did not exit, prior to the creation of the Voltron Lions.

Dr. Gorma released Keith, pending another exam later in the week, to check on him, from the infirmary. Though, Dr. Gorma knew that there wasn't anything he was going to say to the Captain about resting that would change his mind. He later found him working out in the recreation room on the lower level, despite the cast he wore on his left leg. He also decided that keeping the Princess Zeya in the infirmary would do no good to her mental health, and had immediately requested that Nanny prepare a room for her, so she could rest quietly without the noise and commotion that the infirmary would bring. As Dr. Gorma stated, physically, she would be well and would heal quickly. However, he did not know what kind of effects the torture she received would do to her.

Allura had taken it upon herself to help Lemille and Sendrre to figure out why the Triasian force was so hellbent on attacking systems for far away from their planets. Nothing in their reports from the Galaxy Alliance and those from Doom, provided any clue.

"Then we must go there," Lemille stated as she looked at the Princess. "WE have to go to Triasus to find out what happened. If the leaders there are actually behind this attack force."

Allura could only nod in agreement. "Triasus is in a whole different system," Allura stated as she looked over the starmaps before her. "676 keklans. It will take you four days to reach there in our fastest fighter ship we have."

Lemille nodded. "Sendrre and I will go to Triasus, and report anything we find," Lemille stated. "however due to the distance, our signal may take up to two days to reach Arus."

Allura nodded. "We'll just have to risk it," she said. "I'll have Lance prepare a ship for you. Travel light, as the fighters aren't big to begin with."

Lemille smiled. "Princess, we will get to the bottom of this," she stated. "We will stop them. I believe that we can."

Allura breathed in deeply. "We have to, Lemille," she stated.

The door to the conference room opened and Allura looked up as she saw Anala enter. She then turned to Lemille and gave her some last minute instructions on the operations of the fighter ships. She then joined Anala and walked with the young queen out of the conference room.

"Anala, Im sorry to have called you on short notice, as I know you've been keeping in contact with Vallis," Allura said. "But I must speak with you."

Anala nodded as the two women walked down the corridors. Anala knew what the princess wanted to speak about, but only silence was between them as they walked together into one of the Castle's rec room, where the Voltron Force would regularly practice and train. This one was set up as a practice area with and overlooking balcony, so that whomever wanted to watch could do so without interupting those that were. Allura and Anala were now standing on the balcony, as they watched Keith practice in private.

"He deserves to know the truth."

Anala could only breathe in deeply. "What can I say?" she asked as she met Allura's gaze.

Allura turned away from her. "Forgive me, Anala," she said. "But there is nothing you can say."

Anala watched as the door to the rec room on the bottom level opened. Her eyes widened when she saw Lotor enter.

"This is something that must be done between them first," Allura stated as she turned to her. "If they can't cooperate and learn to trust each other, then our fight with the Triasian force will be hindered by their own personal grudges."

Allura then reached out her hand to take Anala's into her own. "Let them work it out," she said. "Do it for your son."

Anala closed her eyes and slowly nodded. Allura placed her arm around her as she held her against herself. "If I know Keith, he will come to understand," Allura stated. "And I know it wont be too easy for him to do so. Just have faith."

Anala nodded as she opened her eyes again and watched the scene before her play out. It was time to mend old wounds.

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Neive yawned to himself as he walked down the long corridors leading back to the sleeping quarters for his team. He had been working with Shane all evening, and hadn't realized how late it had become. Toward the last two hours, however, Shane had inquired him about anything new he had learned about his interest in Arusian law, and when Neive had answered no, they were on the communications link to Shane's Uncle, who lived in an old village not more than a league away from the Castle.

Neive was caught by how loud, the older gentleman was, compared to how Shane acted. His Uncle was more than happy to discuss politics with them and go over some of the laws he had help write when serving under King Alfor. His stories about life on Arus before Zarkon had filled up most of the late evening. As the man was about to go into detail about how Alfor was responsible for getting a law about what could be done with livestock excrement, Shane interrupted him by inviting the vivacious man to the Castle in the near future so they could discuss further about Neive's own interest in Arusian law. Suffice to say, the man was exstatic for the invite and promised that he would be there by the end of the week.

Animal excrement?

Neive thought about it as he walked down the hallway, wondering what kind of law would have to be made about animal excrement. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he really didn't want to know. His wanderings brought him down the guest rooms hallway and he noticed the guard standing outside of one room. He then remembered that Gorma had asked for Zeya to be moved to private quarters, and for safety reasons, Allura had assigned a guard to keep watch, in case she were to wake. He slowly approached the guard and the man saluted him.

"Commander," the guard stated. "I hope that everything is fine."

Neive nodded. "How long is your shift, Dylan?" he asked.

"Im about at the end of my shift, commander," the young man answered. "Ellis is to replace me for the late shift."

Neive slowly nodded. "I'm going in to see if she is alright," Neive stated. "Do you have the same shift tomorrow?"

The young man nodded. "Until the end of the week," he said. "Then I start my training for the new fighters we'll be receiving."

Neive smiled. "Good," he said. "I'll be a moment. If Ellis arrives, you can go on and retire for the night."

"Yes, sir."

Neive smiled as he waved his hand in front of the door panel. The metal door, slid open, and he saw that it was dark inside, save for the small amount of light from the full moon pouring in through the window. As he stepped in, the door slid closed behind him.

He made his way toward the bed in the center of the room, pulling up a chair as he stared down at the sleeping form. Zeya's right hand rested on her, her wrist wrapped in bandages; the bruising he had seen before her on her face were already lightening, but he assumed that it was still painful. The cloth that had covered her eyes was gone, assuming that Gorma had found nothing wrong with her eyes. He wondered why the stranger had warned him about keeping her eyes covered.

He breathed in deeply as he seated himself on the chair and looked at her. Why did he feel so strange wheneve he was around her? Whenever she was near, he could hardly breathe, and his heart would race whenever she spoke.

He reached over to her, brushing the lock of hair from her forehead. This caused her to stir a moment, her brows woven together as she turned her head from side to side. He then watched as her eyes fluttered open, as she stared into the space above her.

Her head turned slowly to him, as her amber eyes came to meet his own blue ones. He breathed in hard, as he leaned in his chair seeing the confusion that she had on her face.

"You're back on Arus, Zeya," he stated in almost a whisper. "You should just rest, you've been through a lot already."

The girl only stared at him, as she tried to sit up. Neive was quick to prevent her from doing so, coming to sit on the edge of her bed as he held her by her arms, to have her lie down again.

"Zeya, it's not a good idea that you move at this moment," he stated. "You need your rest."

Instead, she grabbed at the uniform he wore as she pulled her head forward and rested it against his chest. Neive felt her body tremble a bit, as she held him close to her. He the noticed the red marks that covered the girls back, and breathed deeply. How could she have lasted through such pain?

He then tensed when he felt the unmistakable feeling of soft lips against his exposed neck. His body froze as the tender kisses intensified, traveling up his neck, then sharp teeth nibbled on his ear.

"I need you," she whispered, her breathy voice causing him to flinch as he tried to pull away from her.

Neive tried to push himself away, but the firm grip she had on his uniform only had him pulled toward her as she kissed him fully.

A mixture of fear and confusion gripped through Neive as she strengthened her hold on him. He grabbed her by her arms, to try and push her off of him, but something was just holding him in place. As he breathed in deeply, he could not help but taste the sweetness of her as the kiss deepened, and the sweet smell of her.

She slowly brought the kiss to an end, her gaze then coming to meet his. Neive could only swallow hard, as it seemed that those eyes, could read him, see through him. His heart thumped hard in his chest, suddenly becoming dangerously aware of what she was doing to him.

Once that realization came to him, he quickly tried to pull himself away from her. Why was he behaving this way?

Though she still had a firm grip on him. He grabbed at her hand that held him and tried to pry it away. Instead, he found her fighting back as she snaked her free arm around him, pulling him close and kissed him again.

"I must have you," she whispered as she kissed the tender part of his neck. "You will be mine."

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Allura held Anala back when she watched as Lotor deliver a punch that sent her brother staggering back. Keith breathed in deeply as he eyed the Doom Prince.

They had been fighting for nearly two hours. Neither one willing to concede to the other. Allura was actually surprised that Keith had the energy and strength to do so, considering his injuries that he still was recovering from.

"What makes you think that I will ever forgive all the things you have done?" Keith stated as he stared at the Doom Prince.

"You do not have to forgive me, nor am I asking for it," Lotor stated as he breathed in deeply. "All I ask is that you trust me now."

"And how do I know that you wont go back on that trust?" Keith asked.

"If you love your sister and trust her, then please extend that trust to me," he stated. "She's opened my eyes, and cleared the pain from life; made me realize my faults. I know that I can't make up for the hurt that I've caused, but trust me now. Trust me as your brother."

"Keith!"

Anala screamed when she saw Keith attack Lotor. Allura held her back, as they watched the final confrontation. It was the first time she ever saw Keith attack anyone when his emotions were running high. Lotor was quick to block the punch, but wasn't prepared for the reverse roundhouse kick as it connected with him. He took a step back, as he clutched at his chest, feeling as if a ton of rocks had just hit him. He had barely time to recover, as he blocked another punch, but this time was able to send the captain back with a well timed punch to his face. Lotor knew that if he sustained another hit to his chest, he wouldn't be able to last another hit. He hadn't realized how evenly matched they were, until now.

As if sensing his thoughts, Lotor watched as the Captain charged toward him again. He prepared for what seemed to be a move to hit him where he was already injured, but Lotor gasped when the attack actually aimed higher, connecting as the Captain clotheslined him, causing him to lose his balance, and they both fell to the exercise mat, exhausted. Keith let out an audible groan as the landing sent a shock of pain through his left side.

Anala let out the breath she was holding, wondering what had just happened. Allura crossed her arms in front of herself and smiled.

"Guess he learned a few techniques from Hunk," she commented. "Full of surprises as always."

The two women stared at the two prone forms, as they laid, unmoving. Allura took Anala's arm as they slowly made their way down the the exercise floor.

"So what do you think we should do against these damn Triasians?" Keith asked breathlessly, as he stared up into the lights above him. "Other than the fact that their weapon technology is a little more advanced than ours, they look as if they rely on robot fighters and work in mass numbers to concquer planets."

"The robot fighters are the first wave attack fighters they use, to weaken any defense system that a planet would have," he heard Lotor's reply. "They do have manned fighters, however, as reported, they work in threes, which means a limited number of their strong fighters."

"Inundate their enemy with swarms of forces," Keith stated as he groaned, trying to sit up. "Like a colony of wasps invading a bee hive, to take it over."

Keith breathed in deeply as he cradled his side. Damn ribs, he thought to himself. Dr. Gorma was going to have his hyde now. He slowly turned to the man he had known as an enemy for so long, but now had to regard him as something else.

He then slowly extended his free hand to him. Lotor nodded as he shook it.

"Just keep your promise to my sister," Keith said as he slowly got to his feet. "Otherwise, you will have to deal with me."

"Lotor!"

The two men watched as Anala came running toward them, with Allura following behind. She then stopped before them, meeting Keith's gaze. Tears filled her eyes as she rushed to him, hugging her brother tightly.

Keith winced as her hug put pressure on his ribs, but he just held her close to him. "I understand," he said to her. "Nothing you do will ever disappoint me. In fact, it was much more nobler than I could ever be, for what you have done."

Anala slowly nodded as she pulled away from him. Her eyes then widened, gasping as then she fell to her knees. Keith immediately bent down, grabbing her by her arms as she breathed in deeply

"What is it?"

"Something is not right," she stated, almost trembling. She then breathed in deeply. "Neive...something's happened to him."

"What?" Allura asked. "Anala, what is it?"

Anala shook her head. "He's in danger."

"Where is she?"

The four then looked up to see Lance standing at the entrance to the rec room, with a dark cloaked stranger standing next to him.

"Lance?" Allura asked.

"Its alright, Ally," Lance stated. "He's the one that rescued Princess Zeya from the Triasian commander."

The stranger slowly lowered the hood of his cloak, and slowly stepped forward. "Im in search of my daughter," he stated. "You have her?"

"Your daughter?" Allura asked.

"Siaras."

Allura gasped as she eyed Lance. Was this man going to turn against them.

"What business do you have of her?" Allura asked. "She's under arrest for the attempted murder of our teammate."

"She is my daughter, Princess," he stated. "I have many questions to ask of her. I will not interfere with the way you handle your justice, to be dealt with concerning her."

Allura slowly nodded. "Your name?"

"I am General Gorin of the Triasian fleet that orbits your farthest moon," he stated. "I have...had served under the command of High Lord Rolsin. I am the leader of a growing group of rebel fighters, who no longer wish to fight under the tyranny that Rolsin has displayed, all in the name of our people."

"General," Allura stated. "What is Rolsin's purpose here in the Diamond Galaxy? We were under the impression that he was only attacking the outlying Drule empires that did not defect to the Galaxy Alliance."

"That is the only mission we have for our people, princess," Gorin stated. "We are planetless race. Our people have no home, and we've been traveling the stars, to find those, who were responsible for the destruction of our planet, so many years ago."

Allura's eyes widened. "No home?"

"15 years by your calendar, Princess," he stated.

"And Drule Empire was responsible?"

Gorin slowly shook his head. "That is what the high lords have told our people," he stated. "If you will let me, I am more than willing to speak with you on this, but I wish to see my daughter first."

Allura turned to Keith, and he slowly nodded as he helped Anala to her feet. "We can take you there now," he stated.

"And how is Princess Zeya," the man asked. "I hope that she is doing fine."

"She is resting," Allura stated. "If you are the one that returned her to us, we thank you for your help."

"I trust that your man followed my instructions?" he asked. "That she wear her blindfold for a couple of days."

"Blindfold?" Allura asked. "She was thoroughly examined by our doctor, and they found nothing..."

She watched as the man's expression blanked. "Where is she?"

"She's in a private room, under guard."

"Take me to her, now."

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Neive let out gasp when he felt a sharp pain at the side of his neck. It was all that he needed to finally push her off of him and slowly stand from the bed. He slowly backed away, as she glared at him. He made his way to the door, but a sudden movement, and she disappeared from the bed, then appeared just as he reached the door. She waved her hand in front of the panel, and the lights within the panel, suddenly went out.

"Zeya, stop this," he said to her.

"I must have you," she said as she stepped toward him.

Neive tried to reach for the communicator he wore, but as he did so, she was already near him, taking it away as she crushed it in her hand. She slowly wrapped an arm around him as he pulled his head down toward hers.

"I know you want me," she whispered as she kissed the side of his neck. "Ive seen the way you look at me, the want in your eyes."

Neive swallowed hard as he pushed away from her. As he stepped back, he lost his footing, falling backwards until he was lying on his back. He then groaned as she came over to him, straddling him as she leaned over to look at him.

"Why fight it?" she asked as she let her hands travel over his chest, slowly coming to rest around his neck. "Its what all men want, right?"

Neive gasped when he felt her hands start to squeeze tightly around his neck. He choked, grabbing at her hands trying to pry them away.

"Give yourself to me," Zeya stated. "And I will always be yours."

Neive gasped as he tried to push her off, but she had a firm grip on him. She continued to squeeze his neck harder, tighter, and he tried as hard to pull her hands away. She was now squeezing him so hard, that he could feel her nails dig deep in the flesh of his neck.

"Zeya...you're hurting me!" he gasped.

"Don't fight me," she stated.

Neive's vision was then blinded as a bright light filled the room, and her weight was suddenly pulled off of him. He coughed as he struggled to get air into his lungs, as someone helped him to sit up. He grabbed at his neck and watched as Keith and a strange man struggled with the Princess, trying to get a blindfold over her eyes.

"Let me go!" she yelled. "I must have him!"

Neive coughed again as Allura cradled him.

"Damnit," the strange man muttered as he got the blindfold on her and she continued to fight the two men. Neive watched as the man place a hand to Zeya's shoulder and muttered something before the woman finally fell back into his arms. "She should be fine now. But please, keep the blindfold on for a few days, unless you want a repeat of what just went on."

"What happened?" Neive asked. "She all of a sudden attacked me."

"The Nebris is a powerful aphrodesiac," the man stated as he lifted the Princess in his arms and carried her back to the bed and laid her on it. "We know what effects it has on Triasians, but on other races, it could have adverse, even violent reactions."

"Violent?" he asked. "She nearly killed me."

"She does not know or understand what she is doing, while under its effects," the man stated. "After a few days, it should be gone from her system, but until then she can not look or see a man. If she requires any medical examination, please have it done by females until then."

Allura helped Neive to his feet as he stared at the man before him.

"You are the one who rescued her?" he asked. "The one I saw in the forest?"

The man slowly nodded. "Yes, Prince Neive," he stated. "Im General Gorin, and you already know my daughter, Siaras."

Allura saw the shock go through her cousin's face. "Its alright Neive," she stated. "Gorin is here to deal with her betrayal. We trust him."

Neive slowly nodded as he pushed himself out of her hold, "I'll be in my room if you need me," he stated.

Allura could only watch as he left the small room. She could feel that something was bothering him, and she made it a point to herself to talk to him about it.

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Rolsin stared at the view screen as his brother joined him.

"Have you located him?"

"We tracked his ship to Arus, and it disappeared once it got under the Arusian forests," Relins stated. "We assume that he's already made contact with the Voltron Force."

Rolsin's hand fisted at his side as he turned to him. "Go through all our ships in the fleet. Find those who were close to Gorin and have them gathered here on this ship. I will make examples of those who would follow him now."

"Risen reported that they are a day's travel from his destination," Relins stated. "He should have a report later tomorrow."

"Good," Rolsin stated. "She must be brought back to me, Relins. I will level Arus just to find her if need be."

"Understood," Relins stated. "I will see what we can do to ready our forces."

Rolsin nodded then excused his brother. As he continued to stare at the viewscreen before him, his hand instinctively went to his right eye, feeling the long cut that was there now. Vision in his right eye was now nearly non-existent. When Gorin had attacked him in his quarter, he was not prepared, and the old soldier had managed to cut his face, damaging his right eye in the process before knocking him unconscious.

"And you will pay for your treachery, Gorin," he said to himself.

tbc

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	18. Chapter 18

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

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"Is this the location?"

Neive slowly nodded as he turned to Allura who was standing behind him as he flew the Blue Lion.

"We can land about a 80 meters from this location," he stated. "The walk is over some rought terrain but you hit a clearing near the mountain face."

Allura slowly nodded. "We are so close," she said. "I only hope that after all these years, we aren't chasing something that is not even going to work."

"Have a little faith, Ally," Neive stated. "Your mother knew what she was doing, and Im sure your father guided her in everything she did.

Allura nodded as she stared at the view screen before her. They landed in a small clearing not far from the mysterious mountain. Neive brought the Blue Lion for a soft landing and they both jumped down from the ship as they saw Lance land with the Red Lion.

Allura and Neive met with him as Lance helped Zeya down from the lion, since she was still blindfolded.

"It isn't that far from here," Neive stated. "We just head North for a few meters and then bear East. We should reach the mountain face in about 15 minutes."

Lance nodded as he then led Zeya over to Neive, and had her place her hand on his shoulder. "I will scout on ahead while you guys follow," he stated. "Hopefully, the Triasian force are not in on what we are doing."

Neive swallowed a bit, but nodded.

"I'll keep a 10 meter lead on you three," he stated. "If anything happens, radio and I'll be there as quick as I can. No heroics."

"Well, Lance, you just sounded a bit like Keith there," Allura said with a smile. "You're losing your touch."

Lance feigned a smile. "Just for that, Princess, I'll be sure to let him know that you need a bump up in your exercises," he said. "Maybe 4 hours of running laps around the courtyard to get that heart of yours pumping, seeing as how cold it can get at times."

Allura stared at him. "Lance, sometimes, you surprise even me," she stated. "Go on, we'll follow as best as we can."

The Red Lion pilot then bowed before he took the path toward the mountain, disappearing into the forest.

"Is it normal for all your servants to speak in such a manner?"

Neive turned to Zeya who was trying to face in the direction in which Lance had headed.

"Zeya, they are not my servants," Allura stated. "They are my friends, and I consider them to be equal to me in everything they do."

"But to speak to you in such a manner?"

Allura smiled. "If Coran or Nanny were here, they would probably agree with you," Allura stated. "However, commeraderie is much more important to me than any mere formality that is offered to me. Instead of them treating me formally, I treat them as my equals...and my family."

"Family?"

"To be there for each other, in times of need," she stated.

Zeya slowly nodded. "And it is because of this, family, you are able to support each other?" she asked.

"In many ways than you realize," Allura stated. "We should get going, Lance has probably a good lead on us."

Neive slowly nodded as he moved Zeya's hand from his shoulder and held her hand in his own, supporting her by her arm as they started their trek into the forest.

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It had already been ten minutes since they entered the thick forest, Neive helping Zeya through the rough terrain as the forest path had disappeared and lended to a thick brush and high tree roots. Allura was slightly ahead of them, as he negotiated Zeya around several low hanging branches and a large root that would have required her to climb over it.

Once he maneuvered her around it, they had come to a more gentle terrain where footing wouldn't be as difficult.

"It should be easier from here on," he stated as he took her hand into his and led her over one last tree root. Once they settled onto much flatter ground he took her arm into this, and helped her along the forest path.

"Neive?"

Her voice startled him a bit. "Yes?"

"I want to apologize for what happened last night," she stated. "I dont remember much, but if I did anything to hurt you, I do regret in doing so."

Neive swallowed hard. "It's alright, princess," he said. "You were under the influence of a powerful drug. It couldn't be helped."

The sound in his voice made Zeya feel as if he were guarding something. Did something happen that made him feel uncomfortable? She was silent a moment as she thought to herself. As much as she tried to admit to herself, the young man did intrigue her. She decided to approach her questions as tactful as possible.

"Do you share your cousin's belief?"

"On my teammates?"

"As being a Prince from Helena, and working with those who do not share your title?"

"To think of them as being less than me, when on occasions they have shown to be better, I consider it an insult," he said. "Like Allura, I do not believe that we are higher in worth than anyone else. I rather judge it on how much respect one should receive."

"Your uncle believes otherwise?"

Neive stopped as he turned to her. "How do you..."

"It is not my intention to pry," she stated. "But your thoughts to betray you on that matter."

"My uncle lives in the past, and he wishes to keep alive traditions that have been severly out dated over the years," he said. "He already knows that he can't control me."

"Yet he angers you for doing just that?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

Zeya lowered her chin as they started walking again, remembering back to times in her life, where she was nearly forced into marriage of two Drule dignitaries, to help Zarkon strengthen his alliance with the outlying empire. And on more than one occasion, she sought to fight against his will, which was part of the reason she had left Doom for so long.

"So, you fight against your uncle, because he doesn't allow you to do as you please?" she asked. "Or that he tries to insist that you marry someone you may not love?"

"Love is something he sees as a minor inconvenience," he said.

"He did that to you once, didn't he?" she asked.

She sensed him tense at that moment. Was that the reason why he was so guarded?

"That happened, a long time ago," he said, "and I've never forgiven him for that."

Zeya slowly nodded to herself. He was afraid to show his love for someone, worried that he would disappoint those who were looking after his future.

The remainder of the walk was in silence, though Zeya started to become more aware of the energy that surrounded them. Neive then came to a stop so she realized that they were probably at their destination.

"So this is it huh?" Lance asked as he came to stand before the rockface. "You weren't kidding when you said that it was a mystery."

Lance pulled out a small scanner from the bag he carried and opened it. He then opened his communicator and contacted the Castle of Lions.

"Heya Pidge, we have reached our target," Lance reported. "Taking a scan now, see what you can make of it."

' Roger. ' came the younger members reply.

After a moment, Lance got a reply.

' Its just rock, ' Pidge answered.

"We know its just rock," Lance stated. "Are there any indications that there could be something behind this rockface? Inside this behemoth of a mountain?"

' From initial scans, its completely a solid mass, ' Pidge stated. ' If there is something hidden behind it, then its either burried so deep that the scans can't reach it, or its under the mountain itself. '

"Under it?" Lance asked. "If we dont know exactly where, we have no idea where to start."

' What do you think we should do? '

Lance then turned to the three who were with him. "I guess we'll just have to see if the secret will reveal itself."

Lance put his scanner back into his bag and placed his communicator back on his belt. He then walked over to Allura.

"Well, according to Pidge, its a mountain," he stated. "So, let's see if there is more to this mountain than we realize."

He then took out the armlet that had once been Zeya's and handed it to her. Neived helped her put it back on, and once the metal band was on around her, all three started to react together.

Lance stood back as the three stood together. He then watched as three beams of light eminated from each of them. The ground they were on began to shake violently, causing him to lose his footing for a moment. Allura, Neive and Zeya too, lost their balance and fell to the ground.

Then all was silent. It was if the air around them stood still, charged with some sort of energy. Zeya slowly go to her feet.

"Its here," she stated.

Lance, Allura, Neive and Zeya had to brace themselves as a high wind came up, and deafening noise came from the mountain standing before them. Soon, a crack appeared in the rockface, and it continued around, as if revealing the edge of a opening. The rocks crumbled away slowly, revealing a large entrance.

"How in all of Arus?" Lance commented as he slowly stood, coming to stand near Allura. "A scan just said this was solid rock..."

"Something was put in place to fool scanners," Zeya commented. "I could sense a high amount of energy in this area."

"Maybe we should call in the rest of the team before exploring down that cave," Neive suggested."

"No," Zeya stated. "The rest of the team wont be able to go down there."

"What?" Allura asked.

"Lance, if you will try."

Lance shrugged as he slung the bag he carried over his shoulder. He then walked toward the entrance of the cave, he was nearly flung backwards as a force stopped him. He looked up at the cave entrance.

"You're right," he said. "So what do we do?"

"I have a feeling that only the three of us would be allowed to go," Zeya stated. "Lance, you may want to fly back to the Castle of Lions in the mean time, to ready any support we may need. However, I have a feeling that we won't."

"What if the ship wont let you fly it?"

"I dont think that will be a problem," Zeya stated. "We should hurry. No doubt the energy I sensed in this area, and the sudden spike would have alerted our Triasian friends."

Lance nodded. "Neive and Allura, if anything happens, just leave here immediately," he stated. "Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Neive said. "Travel safe."

"Will do."

Neive watched as the Red Lion Pilot head back toward the forest where they came from. Neive turned back to the cave.

"Neive, can you please remove my blindfold?" Zeya asked.

"But the..."

"I promise that I will avoid in looking at you," she stated. "I have to be able to see this."

Neive turned to his cousin and Allura nodded at him. Neive came to stand behind Zeya as he slowly untied the blindfold.

"Just remain looking forward," he said.

Zeya slowly nodded as she opened her eyese. She looked at the cave entrance before her, and slowly walked toward it. As she reached the area that Lance could not pass, she found that she was able to.

"Come, its a long walk to where we need to go."

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Lance breathed in deeply as he entered the Control Room, seeing that the rest of his team were there, along with the Beta Team. Anala and Lotor were arriving just as he met with Pidge up at the control panel.

"Neive, Allura and Zeya are heading into the cave they found," he reported. "Seems that whatever is guarding the lion, its only allow them to enter the cave."

"Scans still show nothing," Pidge stated. "Its like its almost something magical is protecting the site."

"At this point, Im ready to believe anything," Lance stated.

The sudden ring of the alarms caused Pidge to pull himself forward to answer the incoming message. Keith was already at his side as he brought up the view screen.

"Incoming distress signal," Pidge stated. His face blanked. "Its from Vallis."

"Vallis?" Keith asked.

Pidge slowly nodded as he pulled up the message on the view screen.

"Queen Anala, please, you must return immediately!" the young soldier on screen. "Your mother, she's been injured."

Anala quickly pushed her way toward the control panel. "What happened?" she asked.

"We were attacked in the middle of the night," he stated. "An unidentified force, a hundred ships or so. We were able to fight them off, but the attack served as a diversion."

"Diversion?" she asked. "Teige, what happened?"

"They took him, your highness," he stated. "They took your son."

tbc

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	19. Chapter 19

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

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Anala felt herself weaken. She suddenly felt arms come around her, then slowly pick her up. The room was spinning around her.

"Anala?"

The voice was faint, as she felt her eyes grow heavy.

"Take her to the infirmary..."

And darkness overtook her.

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"Katherine, you're in charge until I get back," Keith stated as he shoved several shirts into a bag. "Ill return as quickly as I can."

Kit watched as her cousin packed his bag. "What about the team?" she asked. "We are so close to finding the sixth..."

"I have to go to Vallis," he stated. "Find out what happened. I trust that you can handle things here."

"Hurry back," she stated.

"I will," he said.

He grabbed his bag and they exited his room together. She watched as he ran down the hallway, toward the hangar bays. She leaned against the wall, holding herself in her arms.

"How cany anyone be so ruthless," she asked herself.

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Rolsin smiled as he watched the ships return from their small mission. Risen had done well. His youngest brother slowly exited the small command ship he was in, carrying a small bundle his in arms. As he approached, he knelt down before him.

"Good job, Risen," Rolsin stated as he accepted the small bundle from his brother. Rolsin slowly turned to the man who stood nearby. "I trust that this was the only thing you wanted."

Zarkon looked down upon the High Lord, slowly accepting the bundle. "Having fullfilled your promise, Lord Rolsin, you will have my cooperation. Haggar will assist you in anything that you need or want."

"I thank you, King Zarkon," Rolsin stated. "And again, we do offer you one of the planets that is under our control, should you decide to accept it."

"For now, Lord Rolsin, this was all I asked."

Rolsin nodded and watched as the old king left with his dark witch.

"I lost 40 of my best fighters just to collect that child," Risen commented as he stood. "What can a baby do for him?"

Rolsin smiled to himself. "What better way to take revenge on your children for turning againt you, than to turn their own against them?" Rolsin asked. "Come, we detected a power surge earlier in the day. A scan of the surface found one of the Lion ships near a large mountain face."

"Do you think they found their weapon?" Risen asked.

"We have to assume that they are near what they are looking for," Rolsin stated. "Meaning that the Princess Zeya would be nearby."

"That woman will be your downfall, if you continue to pursue her, brother," Risen stated as he walked passed him. "On our return, we detected a small fighter ship leave Arus' airspace. It was heading in the direction of Vallis. We assume that its either the Queen herself or the Captain who is heading that way."

Rolsin stared after Risen as he left the hangar bay. One way or another, he was going to have her.

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Zeya, Allura and Neive slowly walked down the long tunnel, finding that it was growing darker the deeper they walked. Neive pulled a light off the belt he wore, which helped illuminate the way. The air in the cavern grew thick with moisture, and the longer they walked, Zeya realized that they were heading downward.

"We should be near," she stated all of a sudden.

Neive slowly lifted his light and saw that the tunnel was coming to an end. They reached what seemed to be a large set of doors, and etched upon the door were the three royal insignias of the three kingdoms of Arus. Allura ran her hand over the cold dark stone.

"I do not see a way to open it," she stated. She then looked down at her armlet and realized that the small etching of the royal symbol of Altaire was now shining. "Wait."

She slowly ran her fingers over the symbol and upon reaction, the symbol slowly lifted from the armlet. She removed it and saw that it was some sort of key.

"Here, we have to place our insignias here," she stated.

Neive and Zeya did the same and approached the door. Together, all three placed their keys against the door, over their respective symbols. Soon the door before them began to groan, and as they stepped back, the giant doors began to open.

Allura was the first to step through, entering a dark room beyond the doors. As soon as all three were inside, the doors behind them slammed closed, thrusting them into complete darkness.

Then a low gutteral roar could be heard. Neive could feel the his skin react to the sound. He then peered into the darkness as an ominous glow began to form before them. Two yellow eyes seemd to stare at them through the darkness. Then he had to close his eyes and cover his ears as a deafening roar sounded through the dark room.

#who dares enter?# the deep mechanical voice echoed. #who dares enter? who wakes me after promising me to sleep forever! marlena! you promised me that you would never bother me?#

Neive slowly opened his eyes as he stared at the two yellow eyes. Could this be what they were looking for?

"Who...who are you?" he heard Allura's nervous voice next to him.

#marlena, is that you!# the voice echoed followed by a deafening roar. #why have you bothered me! you promised you would never bother me.#

"Marlena," Allura stated. "Queen Marlena, is...was my mother."

The voice roared again. #you lie! marlena was the only one who could wake me!# it yelled. #unless...no, karone, she died, the three kingdoms could not have survived..#

"Please, believe us," Allura stated. "We are the children of the three kingdoms. Please, you must remember. Remember what my mother did to protect Arus."

#your voice, it can't be...has it been that long!#

Neive shielded his eyes as the room they were in, was flooded with several bright lights. As soon as his eyes adjusted, he slowly removed the arm blocking his eyes. His gasp was only matched by those emitted by Allura and Zeya. Before him, stood the the lion ship that they had been looking for. Before him, stood a lion ship that would eclipse any one of the Voltron Lions.

Suddenly, a holographic image appeared before them, and caused them to step back. The image reacted to their movement, slowly turning to Princess Allura. She stared at the image before her, as it was of a young man, someone who was probably no older than she.

"I apologize for scaring you, Princess Allura," he said. "Normally, I wouldn't use the lion to communicate through, but I've been down here for a very long time."

Allura stared at the image. "What are you?"

The image then smiled. "I am the onboard AI that controls the Lion ship you see before you," he stated. "However, I can only be activated during down time, so that I may go over diagnostics, and system repair. During battle, I surrender control of the Lion to the pilots."

"Pilots?"

"The three who hold the keys," he stated. He then turned toward Neive and Zeya. "You must be from Helena, and Mythrias."

Neive slowly nodded. "If you're the onboard AI, then was this the reason that Queen Marlena needed to protect you?"

The image only nodded. "You see, she surpassed the knowledge she acquired while she had visited Triasus, all those years ago," the image explained. "What she understood was not the cold technology needed to command war machines, what she wanted to bring was a sense of awareness, for a machine to posses the ability to decide what was right and what was wrong."

"Emotions?" Allura asked.

"Far from it, princess," the image said as he turned to her. "For machines are not capable of understanding emotions like a human, she knew that. She wanted a machine to know what emotions are capable of doing to a soldier in combat, and to learn from what reactions a soldier may give, to certain situations. This, this was dangerous technology and she knew that if it fell into the wrong hands, an enemy could use it against us. So, to keep the secret safe, she decided to hide her creation, here. Until such time it was needed."

The holographic image then turned away. "I am sure by now, you have already sensed a form of AI from your current Lion ships?" he asked. "The reaction that each lion has, is tied with the person it allows as its pilot."

"It allows?" Neive asked. "But, how; we are able to pilot each others lions ships?"

The image turned to him. "Because you've been accepted by all lion ships," he stated. "Each of you, who pilot the lions, were chosen by them. If they did not want you, you would not be able to fly them."

"That means you were developed long after the first AI programs were made for the Lion ships?" Neive asked.

"I was developed as a means to balance the the five AI programs, if such a time, in combat, that they would be under severe attack," he stated. "The sixth lion would bring the AI programs together, as a defense system, which would open up a new level of power, as well as weapons to your disposal."

"Does it require that three pilots must be there to pilot the sixth lion?"

The image slowly shook his head. "The lion can be controlled by one person," he stated. "But that part of the program was never completed. And the routine was only written so that Princess Karone could operate the Lion, if the need was to arise. Since Altaire and Helena contributed to the pilots of the original lions, Marlena offered the sixth lion to Mythrias, and a soldier would have been chosen from their ranks. However, Mythrias was attacked before a man could be chosen and the program was left in place, for that of Princess Karone.

The holographic image turned to Zeya. "Your mother, was more than happy to be apart of defending Arus," he stated. "But, she was unable to reach the lion ship in time. Before Mythrias was destroyed."

Zeya gasped.

"If Princess Karone was written into the program, does that mean Zeya can operate the Lion if the program is rewritten?" Allura asked.

"Allura?" Neive asked.

"If the program can be rewritten to accept Princess Zeya as the daughter of Princess Karone, she will have full control over the lion ship, in battle. It will still require all three keys by each of you in order to fully activate it."

"For now, is there a way to reach this cavern without covering so much terrain?" Allura asked. "Is there some place near the Castle of Lions that we can offer a second home to this lion?"

The image smiled. "Your mother was prepared for this day, Princess," he stated. "There is a cavern built 2 kilometers from the current position of the Yellow Lion's base. There you will find another resting area, filled with the needed supplies and equipment to maintain the lion ship. From this cavern, you will find a tunnel leading to this new base. I can have the lion ship moved there, but I do need one of you to remain with me."

"I'll..."

"I'll stay," Zeya interrupted Neive. "If my mother was destined to fly this lion, it should be my right to see that its delivered safely to its new base. At least allow me to do this."

"The tunnel will close once we are in the new base, and all that was here will be destroyed," the AI stated.

Allura slowly nodded. "We will return to the Castle of Lions to see if we can get a head start on figuring out the program. Zeya, please be careful."

The princess slowly nodded. "I will do the best that I can."

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Zarkon stared at the young child as it laid silently in its makeshift crib. He then turned to Haggar. "Do what you need to do, Haggar," he stated. "I want them to suffer for what they've done to me."

Haggar nodded. "The spell is a dangerous one," she said. "If done wrong, it can and will rob the child of his soul."

"Just do it," he ordered. "I trust that you will be able to pull it off."

"As you wish," she stated. "It will take a couple of days to perform, but Im sure you will be happy with the results."

Zarkon nodded. "They will pay for betraying me."

"And what of Lord Rolsin and his brothers?"

Zarkon smiled to himself. "A fool blinded by his own ambition," Zarkon stated. "Once our plan is put into motion, the entire Triasian fleet will fall to our command."

"Then I'll be sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible."

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Lance stood up as he watched as Allura and Neive exit from the chutes that lead to each Lion Ship. He realize that Zeya was not with them and as the control area lowered, he walked up to them.

"Did you guys locate the lion ship?" he asked.

Allura slowly nodded her head. "Zeya is with the ship to try and have it moved to the new base," she stated.

"New base?" Lance asked.

"Seems my mother had everything planned so that we would be ready to accept this ship," she stated. "Once the Lion reaches the new base, we will be able to have an access tube open to it."

"I can't believe that we found it," Lance stated.

"There's a lot of information that was shared with us," Allura stated. "However, all will not be known until the Lion is safe at its new base." She looked around noticing that the Control Room was unusually bare. "Where is everyone?"

Lance's expression darkened. "While you were away, we received a distress signal from Vallis," he stated.

"Distress signal?"

"The Triasians sent a small fleet to attack Vallis, as a diversionary attack," he said. "Ally, they kidnapped Anala's son."

Allura's eyes widened. "Where's Keith?"

"He flew out once we received news," he said. "He took one of the faster fighter ships. Anala was taken to the infirmary, after having a faint spell here."

Allura slowly nodded. "Have both teams gather in the main conference room," Allura stated. "We have to work out a new plan. If these Triasians are willing to harm others, to get to us, we must be prepared for any new tactic they may take against us. Keith shouldn't have left, but I understand why."

Lance nodded. "I'll see that everyone is there in a half hour," he said.

Allura turned to Neive. "These Triasians must be stopped once and for all," Allura said. "Im tired of playing their games. It's time we show them that they can no longer continue to threaten systems."

tbc  
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	20. Chapter 20

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A Change in the Winds  
Arus  
arus-dot-geo-at-yahoo-dot-com

Voltron and its characters are owned by World Event's Productions.  
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Chapter 20  
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Keith quickly ran into the palace once he landed his fighter on the small landing platform. He was greeted by several of the palace guards, and they escorted him to the infirmary. There, in a quiet room, the guards left him as he entered the room in which his mother was in. Xue slowly stood when he saw him enter, careful not to disturb her as she slept.

"She's going to be fine," Xue said as he greeted Keith at the door. "Come, you can speak with the doctor. She is still resting."

Keith followed Xue out of the room and down a hall before reaching another. There, Keith met with an elderly man, who greeted him, taking him into the room. He motioned for Xue to stay outside, so he could speak with Keith alone.

"Alysson suffered a minor concussion to the back of her head," he stated. "She was sitting with Reece when the attack commenced and was about to take the child to the safety of our shelters here, when a few soldiers from the attacking force invaded the palace. They were pretty systematic and knew where to go, and their target suggest that they were here to kidnap the child."

"How long will she be out?" Keith asked.

"It's hard to say," he explained. "Im keeping her on watch as, since she was struck from behind, she had fallen where she was standing. In her condition, Im hoping it didn't have any side effects."

"Her condition?" Keith asked.

The doctor then looked at him. "She never told you?" he asked.

"Your mother is four months pregnant," he stated.

Keith felt the blood drain from him for a bit. "Pregnant?"

The doctor smiled. "Im sure she was just hoping to save the news for you at a later time," he said. "She wouldn't even let me tell Xue that she was. He does know now, however, since we needed to do a complete scan."

Keith swallowed hard . "Can I see her now?"

"It should be fine," he said. "Its time that she received her check up anyway."

Keith stood and followed the doctor from the room, back down the hall to where his mother was staying. As they entered, Xue stood.

"It's alright," the doctor stated.

Keith walked over to the bed and leaned over as he stared down at his mother. Her eyes slowly opened at his presence, and she smiled weakly at him.

"I knew you would come," she said as tears came to her eyes. "I couldn't stop them."

Keith took her hand into his own. "There was nothing you could do," he said. "These Triasians are a formidable enemy. Im surprised you even tried to stand up to them."

"How is Anala?"

"She is recovering," he said. "She didn't take the news well."

"You must get him back, Keith," she said. "Please, you must get him back."

Her eyes grew heavy again and she once again fell into a deep slumber. Keith leaned over and kissed her on her forehead before standing.

"The Triasian fleet is orbiting the far moon of Arus," Keith stated. "Im sure they would have taken Reece there. For what reason however, I do not know."

Xue slowly nodded. "Keith, there is something I have to discuss with you," he said. "It does concern Reece."

"What is it?"

"Come, I wish to not speak about it here," he said as he moved toward the door.

Keith nodded as he followed him to the door of the room. He then turned to see the doctor and nodded to him. As they left the room, he couldn't help but wonder what Xue wanted to tell him.

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Zeya stood within the tiny cockpit of the Lion ship, staring down at the three individual seats before her. She rounded the center one, taking her place as the view screen before her turned on.

' The system will now register you as the main pilot, the familiar voice stated. ' If you are the daughter of Princess Karone, the system should detect it and allow you to pilot the ship.

Zeya watched as a light beam ran over her, and after it passed, she looked at the view screen before her.

' You register as Karone's daughter. the voice said, and then the holographic image of the young man they had seen earlier appeared on the screen before her. ' However, because you do possess Drule DNA, the system will need to be overwritten to give you 100 complete control while in battle. Im sure that Princess Allura will be able to have that done.

Zeya regarded him for a moment. "Did Queen Marlena ever give you a name?"

' A name? ' he asked. ' I was never referred to by a name. '

"Would you mind if I gave you a name?" she asked. "If you are going to be an interactive AI, I think having a name would indeed help our conversation."

' What would you want to name me? '

Zeya smiled to herself. "Kieran," she said.

' Kieran? '

"It means, the supportive one, in Drule," she said.

' I like that name, ' the image smiled. ' We should be arriving at the new base in a few moments. I will be setting off the explosions to seal off the tunnel once we are a few kilometers away. '

"That way, no one can take the old tunnel to the new base?" she asked.

' Yes, ' he answered. ' Princess Zeya, would you mind if I ask you a question? '

"What is it?"

' Why do you help your enemies now? '

Zeya lowered her head for a moment. "I've come to realize that what they fight for, what they valiantly would give up their lives for, is far more rewarding than what my family wanted to do," she said. "It was them who opened my eyes to evil that my father was."

' I am glad to hear that, ' he stated. ' Then, you are ready to hear something very important. '

"Important?" she asked.

' Your mother left behind a message for you, ' he said. ' It was recorded when she returned to Arus, after escaping from Doom. Do you want me to play it for you? '  
Zeya could only find herself nodding as she leaned forward in her chair. "Please."

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Lance sat up in the chair he was in as he answered the message that was coming in. The view screen before him flashed for a moment, then a hazy image appeared, then cleared as he saw Lemille within, wearing protective gear.

"Lemille?" Lance asked.

' Lance, is the Princess present? '

"She's busy at the moment," he stated. "What did you find?"

' We were able to locate Triasus, but you wouldn't believe what we found. '

"What is it?"

' The planet is completed devoid of life, ' she answered. ' The radiation levels are high here, suggesting that some type event happened here. '

"War?"

' It would seem so, Lance, ' she said. ' This could be the reason why they are traveling across the galaxies as they are doing. '

"But what would be the reason to do so, if they defeated the ones that did this to their planet?"

' I think there is more to it than that, ' she said. ' I'll be bringing back some samples so that we can test it. Sendrre and I will be returning to Arus, shortly. We should arrive within two days. '

"Understood," Lance said. "And be careful."

' We will. '

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"How do you know?"

"No one was closer to Ylren, than I was," Xue stated as he walked over to a wide window and looked out of it. "You and Anala are his descendants. And any children you would have..."

"Could receive his power?"

Xue slowly nodded. "Reece was born with a full set of wings, which you already know, is unusual for a Vallusian male child," he said. "And I've already sensed a strong presence that the child holds."

"If the Triasians know about this, they could try to use him against us," Keith stated.

"That is, if they know," Xue said. "I dont think the Triasians were doing this for their advantage."

"Then who?"

"The only person who would know," Xue said. "King Zarkon."

"You think that King Zarkon is now working with the Triasians?"

Xue nodded. "If he still works with his witch, it would be hard to say what they could do. They may try to force the power of the child out, or use him to lure you out."

"Me?"

"Ylren's power is still within you, however it may be weaker than before, you still are able to use it," he said. "If you fall into their hands, combined, they could take over the Triasian fleet, if they needed to."

Keith could only stare at him, as he remembered back to the mesa where he confronted Rolsin for the first time. He remembered grabbing a hold of Zeya and then a sudden force came between them that it sent the lord flying back.

"What is it Keith?" Xue asked.

"A few days ago, I confronted their leader, when he was trying to take Princess Zeya," he said as he turned to him. "I felt a sudden rush of power as anger filled me. It was so strong that I was able to send their leader flying, almost destroying the armor he wore."

Xue slowly nodded. "It seems that without Ylren's influence, the power you do have is only ignited when you are at an emotional high," he said. "Be careful in how you handle your emotions, Keith. You do not want to end up hurting yourself in the process."

"I have to return to Arus," Keith said as he shook his head. "Please look after Alysson. Take care of her."

"I will," Xue said.

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Haggar smiled to herself as she slowly approached the large tube standing in the middle of the room. Filled with an unusual liquid, she watched as the figure within breathed through an aparatus, as her magic worked on him.

"Soon, you will be ready to confront those that chose to betray us," she hissed. "In the meantime, I have several other surprises in mind that I must tend to."

She slowly turned, her cane echoed as it hit the steel floor below her. A thud sound from behind her caused her to turn and she smiled as she met the golden stare of the young man within.

The door to the laboratory she was in slowly opened and she smiled as she watched three Triasian soldiers bring in four prisoners.

"Under Risen's orders, we captured these Vallusian soldiers during our raid," one of them stated. "Where do you want them?"

Haggar smiled as she raised her cane. "You wont have to bother," she said. "You can leave us. They are harmless."

The three soldiers bowed before leaving, as the Vallusian prisoners stared up at her.

"Oh, you should be very terrified," she laughed as she waved her cane above them.

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Zeya sat quietly atop the Sixth Lion as she watched the sunset in the distance. They had made the way to the new base, which was situated 2 kilometers from Yellow Lions roost, near the edge of the forest where Green Lion was hiding. The tunnel to the old hiding space was now collasped, and any signs that it had been there had been erased. They were now, atop the new base, so that she could take the time to think to herself. She smiled to herself as she pulled her knees up to her chest, as she rested her chin against them.

"So this is the beginning?" she asked herself.

' Princess, the new tunnel to the Castle Of Lions is now ready, ' she heard the AI, Kieran say. ' I'm sure your friends are waiting for you. '

"If you dont mind, Kieran, I just want to spend this time here," she said. "At least till the sund goes down."

' I understand, ' he answered.

"Kieran?"

' Yes, princess? '

"You do not have to call me princess," she said. "Please, just call me Zeya."

' As you wish. '

She smiled. It was the first time in a long time, she felt happy. She was now with friends, who opened their arms to her, even though she was their enemy. She had finally found a way to know her mother, whom she had so wanted to see and meet. And now, she was accepted, as part of team to help fight against a threat, that only loomed as far as Arus' moon.

The sun had finally gone below the horizon, and the sky above her began to dance with tiny pinpoints of light as the stars started to reveal themselves.

' Zeya, its time that I settle in, ' she heard the lion say. ' Being in isolation for so long, I had only enough power to take us here. I must recharge. '

Zeya slowly nodded. "And I should turn in as well," she said.

' Zeya, the Nebris effect you told me about is completely gone from your system now, ' he said. ' When I did the scan earlier, I couldn't detect it. '

She smiled as she jumped into the cockpit. "That is good to hear," she said. "Let's go. Im sure that I've already worried enough people."

Zeya relaxed as the Lion ship moved into the new base to settle. She breathed in deeply as the chair she was in was then lowered as it entered the the chute that would take her back to the Castle Of Lions. It was definitely a new beginning.

--fin--

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So, last chapter in this story arc. now, you're probably yelling "WTF? What the hell!" "How can you just leave it hanging like that!"  
DONT WORRY!  
Im starting the new arc soon. So keep your eyes peeled for the first chapter of "The Pride of Arus"


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